Wout van Aert injures knee in training, will skip Belgian national champs
Team hopes he can recover for Tour
Team Jumbo-Vism announced that Wout van Aert will not be at the start of the Belgian cycling championships on Sunday. He hit his knee during a training session, which caused minor irritation in the past few days. “This is the wisest decision because I don’t want to jeopardize the Tour,” van Aert said.
Since the Tour de France starts next Friday, Van Aert will take it easy until Sunday, the team posted in a statment. They did confirm he will be in Copenhagen for the start of the Tour, as planned.
The team added that Van Aert relinquishes the national title with a heavy heart, but with a view to the Tour he wants to avoid the risk of the injury bothering him next week. ”
“I think it’s a real shame that I can’t defend my jersey. I would normally never forgo a Belgian championship. I also regret missing the time trial because it just didn’t fit the schedule. However, this is the wisest decision because I don’t want to jeopardize the Tour,” the 27-year-old ride said. Tiesj Benoot, Nathan van Hooydonck and Tosh van der Sande will represent Team Jumbo-Visma in the Belgian title race.
