Wout van Aert Forced Out of the Tour de France

Wout van Aert has been ruled out of the Tour de France.

Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed Wednesday that Van Aert is struggling to heal an infected wound in his elbow and will not be fit to support Jonas Vingegaard in July.

“This is of course a big disappointment,” Van Aert said Wednesday in a team statement. “The Tour de France is one of my main goals every year.

“Unfortunately, a crash during training has put a spanner in the works, and the injury to my elbow has worsened and has still not healed sufficiently,” he said.

Van Aert crashed while training ahead of last week’s Tour Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes, and the resulting wound festered during the race.

The 31-year-old won a stage but was forced to abandon a day later due to pain and inflammation through his elbow.

“Together with the team, we have concluded that starting the Tour in top form is not feasible at this point,” Van Aert said Wednesday. “My full focus is now on my recovery so I can return to my best level later this season.”

Van Aert’s importance to Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour de France cannot be understated.

The all-terrain star raced every Tour since 2019 with the Dutch squad, hoovered 10 individual victories, won the green jersey, and delivered key pulls for Vingegaard.

Van Aert pivots attention to road worlds

Team director Marc Reef suggested the team had pulled all the stops to get Van Aert fixed, fast.

However, the turnaround was too tight for the Grand Départ on July 4.

The Paris-Roubaix champion will now refocus on the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal. He could likely also race the Vuelta a España.

“Wout is one of the most important riders in our team and we would obviously have loved to have him at the start of the Tour,” Reef said. “In recent days we have explored all options, but ultimately his health comes first. With the recovery process required, it is not possible for him to reach top form in time for the Tour de France.

“It is unfortunate that he will not be there, but we are convinced this is the right decision for his recovery and the rest of his season,” Reef said.

Visma-Lease a Bike will not confirm who replaces Van Aert until next week.

Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Victor Campenaerts, Bruno Armirail, Edoardo Affini, and Per Strand Hagenes are expected to be part of the team’s Tour 8.