Wout van Aert forced to skip Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

A setback for Wout van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike: the Belgian classics specialist will not be able to participate in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Van Aert is ill and will be replaced by the young Italian Pietro Mattio.

"Unfortunately, Wout van Aert cannot start in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday because he has fallen ill," announced Visma | Lease a Bike on social media. "The winner of the 2022 edition is taking the time to recover."

Wout van Aert is obviously very disappointed to have to skip Omloop. "It is, of course, a big setback to miss my first race after working hard all winter preparing for the classics season. We had a good training camp in Sierra Nevada and I felt really strong."

"But unfortunately, it is also the time of year when you can easily get sick. However, I remain positive about how I felt during the training and trust that I will be racing again soon. Just not this coming Saturday."