Elbow injury rules Wout Van Aert out of the Tour de France
Wout van Aert will not be on the start line of the Tour de France in Barcelona on 4 July. His team, Visma | Lease a Bike, announced that the 31-year-old Belgian has insufficiently recovered from the elbow injury he sustained in a training crash ahead of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Van Aert seemed to be in good form last week, winning the fifth stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. But, a day later, the Belgian cyclist withdrew from the race, after an infection had unexpectedly developed in the wound.
The wound was cleaned again in hospital this week, where he also spent one night under observation. As he is still unable to train, his team decided that he would not be able to recover in time for the Tour de France, which starts on 4 July.
"At the moment, it is mainly the elbow itself that has led us to make this decision," team manager Grischa Niermann told Het Nieuwsblad. "Wout is on a course of antibiotics and is currently unable to train. You can put it off and put it off, but at some point you have to make a decision. Neither Wout nor the team wanted to rush things ahead of the Tour."
"A big disappointment"
Van Aert will be missed in the peloton, as he has participated in every Tour de France since 2019. He won a total of 10 stages during that period, alongside the points classification in 2022. This year, the Belgian won Paris-Roubaix for the first time in his career.
"This is of course a big disappointment. The Tour de France is one of my main goals every year," Van Aert said on his team's website. "Together with the team, we have concluded that starting the Tour in top form is not feasible at this point. My full focus is now on my recovery, so I can return to my best level later this season."
The team will announce Van Aert's replacement next Tuesday, when the final line-up for the Tour de France is presented.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO ELIAS ROM
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