ROME - Italian motorcycling phenomenon Valentino Rossi was back in the saddle on Wednesday for the first time since crashing in practice for last month's Italian MotoGP.

The 31-year-old nine-time world champion, who suffered a broken right leg, spent just under 30 minutes on a Yamaha Superbike at private testing in Misano, central Italy.

Rossi rode a total of 26 laps, split into two sessions, and recorded a best lap time of 1min 38.2sec.

"We made this test in order to understand how we must work from here and to see more or less how I can ride the bike," said the Italian, who until his latest crash had never missed a race in his career.

"The test was positive because I can at least ride, but there is a lot more to a MotoGP race than to a test like this one.

"I had some pain in the ankle, the knee and the shoulder, but above all I lacked strength in the shoulder and a bit of movement in the ankle."

Rossi said he would continue with an updated rehabilitation programme and make a decision within the next week as to whether he will ride at the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring on July 18.

"I would really like to come back at Sachsenring, but it is still too early to say," he said.

"We still have 12 days and we must wait and see how much we can improve my condition in the next few days. The Superbike today was good and great fun to ride.

"I really would like to ride at Sachsenring, but we must wait another week before making a decision."

Italian media speculated that a more realistic prospect was Rossi returning for the Czech GP in Brno on August 15.