Visma | Lease a Bike hopes Wout van Aert can recover in time for Le Samyn

Wout van Aert cannot start on Saturday in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but that does not mean the entire Opening Weekend is off. The team remains hopeful to field their leader on Tuesday in the Ename Samyn Classic.

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann said this at the press conference before the Flemish Opening Weekend for the camera of WielerFlits. "It is a huge disappointment for the team, but even more so for Wout himself that he won’t be there on Saturday. He is sick now, there’s no getting around it. We are trying to turn the page as quickly as possible and focus on the weekend with the riders we do have."

German Niermann is thinking mostly in the medium term. "Wout is now heading into a long period with many important races. Hopefully his illness won’t affect his ability to start those with an upward form. Ideally that will already be the case on Tuesday at Le Samyn, Saturday at the Strade Bianche, and then also Tirreno-Adriatico afterwards. We hope he recovers as quickly as possible."

Van Aert returned sick from the training camp in Sierra Nevada that was meant to prepare him for the upcoming Classics period. He is training completely pain-free now, after arriving at the camp with an ankle injury sustained during the Zilvermeercross.