Two weeks after his heavy fall on Across Flanders, Wout Van Aert announced Thursday in a video posted on the social networks of his Visma-Lease a Bike team that he would not be at the start of the next Tour of Italy, the May 4, in Venaria Reale, near Turin.
Victim of a fractured collarbone and seven ribs, as well as a contusion to a lung, the Belgian explains that his “other injuries are healing well”, but that his “ribs remain a limiting factor”.
“At the moment I can’t train at all,” he says. I’m trying to make my first pedal strokes on the bike, but it’s not enough to be able to train. This is why we made the decision not to start the Tour of Italy. It’s a real shame, I’m very disappointed to also miss my second big goal of the season, but for the moment I have to prioritize my health and my body while it recovers properly. »
Replaced by Christophe Laporte
He will be replaced in the hornets team by Christophe Laporte while the management of the Dutch team continues to modify its squad, after Wilco Kelderman had already withdrawn (broken collarbone from Paris-Nice) on Wednesday, giving way to Koen Bouwman.
Wout Van Aert had decided this winter to change his plans and his program to focus his start of the season on two major objectives: the week of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix and the Giro, therefore, which he hoped to discover after having participated in the Tour de France during the last five editions. Alas, this fall in Belgium ruined all his plans. The rest of his program thus remains unclear.
Jonas Vingegaard, who himself does not know if he will be able to leave Florence on June 29 after his terrible fall in the Basque Country (pneumothorax, broken ribs and collarbone), has already said that he would like to be able to count once again on the support of his luxury bodyguard. But the latter, if it is postponed, could be tempted to focus on the online and time trial events of the Olympic Games, without necessarily going through the Tour de France box to prepare.
