Ten time world motocross champion Stefan Everts still isn’t out of the woods after his battle with malaria and is continuing to have problems with his feet despite numerous operations that included removing some of his toes, but the determined Belgian still wants to eventually be able to ride a motocross bike again!
Speaking to us at Hawkstone, Everts said: “For the moment it’s stable but it’s not good yet. I still have pain every time I am walking, even now when I am standing I have pain. My right foot is worst, my left foot is okay. I still have the wounds on the heels, they are still open, they will close eventually but it will be another six to nine months when this part will be better. The pain on my right foot, I don’t know if this will ever go away. I hope it will reduce but I don’t know. For the moment it’s still a pain in the ass!
“With the wounds in my heels, it’s so hard even for me to get in these shoes. Every time I go over those wounds to get in the shoes it’s pretty painful, so to get in a pair of boots, at the moment it is not an option. First those wounds need to close then I have to work on a decent pair of boots, then maybe I can get back on the bike if my boots are right.
“For me it’s a challenge to get back on the bike one day, when? I don’t know. I have to restart my fitness again and get a bit more fitness in my body because the last year I have lost so much fitness and strength. I am slowly trying to build up, it’s tough to face the level where I am at the moment, it’s tough for me mentally to deal with that and to get through it. It’s going to take a bit of time to get to a better level overall body fitness but that’s the way it is.”
Everts also had some interesting analyses on the upcoming GP season, the technical skills of Jeffrey Herlings and revealed is a big fan of Jorge Prado’s technique: “Every year is always interesting at the beginning of the season. It’s just a pity that Prado got injured already because I think he was a big competitor for all the others to get in there and show what he can do. I believe Jorge can do very well even in his first season because he is a very technical rider. I strongly believe in him but of course battling Herlings, he is one of the toughest guys when he is healthy. Tim, I hope he gets a bit stronger mentally, it looks like they have a really good bike set-up at the moment already so it’s going to be very interesting.
“You have got to understand the track and read the track and make the bike work as best as possible to go over the track conditions. I think Herlings has quite a good feeling with that, how he helps his bike go around the track and get the best speed out of there. I don’t see that with every rider. For sure Prado has that also, he really feels the bike really well. Maybe Tim feels it a bit less but they are all top riders and they all have their qualities, everyone has a bit of a different style but at the end the technique is the base and the same for everyone. It looks different from the outside but what they do is basically the same.”
You can read the full interview here.
Article: Jonathan McCready
