Yesterday Bak visited doctor Toon Claes in Herentals, Flanders and an osteopath in Leuven, Flanders in order to have them review the status and progress of the healing of his left wrist.

Doctor Claes concluded that sufficient healing had taken place for the plaster impregnated bandage to be removed. A brace was made which will assist Bak and stabilize his wrist in the remaining part of the healing process.

Fortunately for Bak and his Lotto-Belisol team, he is now allowed to return to training on the road. However, the brace does only allow for him to sit in one position on the bike.

Bak is now hoping to be able to resume his original 2013 season schedule in either this year's Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico in the beginning of March.

"Yesterday I went to Herentals and afterwards I went to see an osteopath in Leuven. He made a brace that suits a specific bike position. Now I can sit only in one position on my road bike, because the wrist still has to be fixed. If the brace had been more flexible the fracture wouldn’t heal," Bak explained.

"Later today I want to ride on the road. It is important that I combine road training with the home trainer because I have to see how much I can do on the road. Doctor Claes told me that I have to feel it myself. If it is too painful, then I have to be careful."

In spite of the troubles he is going through Bak hasn't lost his sense of humor. "I asked if training on the road would slow the healing of the fracture, but he said that won’t be the case if the wrist is fixed. He advised me to train on nice roads - I shouldn’t ride on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix tomorrow (laughs)," Bak told Roadcycling.com.
 
"When they took the plaster off yesterday, the doctor said I looked better than two weeks ago, but I could still feel it when he pushed on the spot of the fracture. With the brace on I don’t feel any pain, only some irritation," Bak continued.

"The doctor will decide if I can ride Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. I really hope so, because you need one of those races before the classics. I can train with this brace, but can’t race with it. I can only do my homework and hope for the best," stubborn and persistent Bak concluded.

The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist.