Sunday's Rund um Köln may not be a premier race on the yearly calendar, but the German one-dayer holds a special significance for Tudor Pro Cycling sprinter Arvid De Kleijn, who will pin on a number for the first time since last October.
The Dutch rider has endured an "incredibly hard few months" since last racing at the Tour de Langkawi, where he sped to two stage victories.
There has been light among the darkness, with De Kleijn and his wife Céline welcoming their first child, Fye, in January, even if her birth didn't go 100% smoothly.
"It wasn't an easy birth, and Céline couldn't get out of bed for a long time. It was mainly down to me, although I was actually scheduled to go on a training camp with the team. The team said they didn't think that was right, given the situation and that it's our first child.
However, that season debut never happened. In the week before the race, he was out training when he passed "a group of 10 lads, around 15, 16, 17 years old", he said. The group hurled abuse at him, including the highly offensive Dutch profanity 'kanker'.
Although the use of the insult seems to be an unfortunate coincidence rather than a targeted gesture [kanker translates as cancer in English – Ed.] at De Kleijn, it understandably struck a nerve.
"They hurled abuse at me, using the name of the disease my father died from. I turned round and tried to talk to them. Why did they have to use that word to insult me, and why were they acting so rowdy in the first place?" he said.
"When I asked them to stop, because my father had died of that disease, things went from bad to worse.
"They'd probably been drinking, and perhaps had taken something else as well. There was absolutely no point in trying to talk to them, and when I decided to cycle away, they started attacking me.
"One of them at the back right was on a fatbike and lashed out at me in one go, knocking me out. It turned out my nose was broken. It's particularly sad that you increasingly see this generation no longer having any respect for their fellow human beings."
De Kleijn's broken nose meant that Scheldeprijs was off the table, while the impact of the assault also left him shaken and shocked beyond the physical impact.
Fortunately, bystanders were on hand to help De Kleijn, while nine of the group who assaulted him were arrested.
"Unfortunately, the person who struck me left quickly and hasn't been found yet. Sadly, the trial will take a while, but I'm glad they won't get away with it," De Kleijn said.
The 32-year-old, a former Paris-Nice stage winner, is now hoping to put the tribulations of recent months behind him as he returns to racing. After Köln comes the 4 Jours de Dunkerque before a series of semi-Classics in Belgium and the Copenhagen Sprint in June.
A shoulder injury suffered at last year's UAE Tour – loose bone fragments which left him unable to raise his right arm – is also behind him, the pain from a corrective surgery which saw a hook inserted into his shoulder joint finally gone.
"I missed racing so much, the adrenaline of the sprint, the atmosphere within the team, all of it," he said in the Tudor press release.
"Recently, I've trained really well, and I finally feel ready again. I believe I can be competitive. I want to win again, for myself, for the team, and for everyone who stood by me during this period."
