{"id":489854,"date":"2026-02-19T09:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489854\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:48:09","slug":"belgian-to-miss-spring-classics-after-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489854\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgian to miss Spring Classics after surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After several successful seasons at Visma | Lease a Bike, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idlprocycling.com\/tiesj-benoot\" title=\"Tiesj Benoot\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tiesj Benoot<\/a> opted for a move to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idlprocycling.com\/decathlon-cma-cgm\" title=\"Decathlon CMA CGM\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Decathlon CMA CGM<\/a> last winter. The 31-year-old Belgian was set to be one of the team\u2019s key leaders for the classics, but injury has now derailed those plans. On Thursday morning, the French squad delivered highly disappointing news.Benoot had plenty of ambition for his first spring with the team. \u201cI hope to peak from E3 to Li\u00e8ge. I\u2019ve ridden Strade five times and always finished in the top eight. And I\u2019ll definitely come back, because it\u2019s the only race I really regret missing due to that altitude camp,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idlprocycling.com\/cycling\/tiesj-benoot-calls-for-action-we-all-need-to-stop-riding-at-the-front-when-van-der-poel-and-pogacar-are-there\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said <\/a>previously about skipping the Italian gravel classic.<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian was due to make his debut for Decathlon CMA CGM next Saturday at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne also on the original schedule. From there, his spring was set to continue with E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, and finally Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n<p>Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/photos-action-tiesj-benoot-05-p.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Photos action_Tiesj Benoot_05_\u00a9P.Ballet_A.Broadway\"\/>Spring campaign ruled out for BenootThat was the plan, but Decathlon CMA CGM issued a medical update on Thursday morning. \u201cDuring his preparation, Benoot developed back pain during training. After consultation and diagnosis by the team\u2019s medical department, a herniated disc was identified that required surgical intervention,\u201d the team wrote on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/decathloncmacgm\/status\/2024408617559158869?s=20&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnPgAvMevXfJj6IyOx4_9EvOBexXc-v2TooIWk8dKkgoS1ntMwmG7wfU2Zysw_aem_bQJHZCU8VeQdH47uES3Xxw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jacky Maillot, head of the medical department, added: \u201cTiesj Benoot underwent successful surgery this week for a herniated disc in his lower back and is now beginning his recovery. His return to competition will depend on how that recovery progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benoot himself called it \u201ca huge disappointment to miss the classics for the first time in my career,\u201d meaning his spring campaign is now effectively over. \u201cI\u2019ll be cheering my teammates on from the sofa. I\u2019m incredibly motivated to come back at a higher level than ever before. Many thanks to the team for the trust they have shown in me during these difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After several successful seasons at Visma | Lease a Bike, Tiesj Benoot opted for a move to Decathlon&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,221838,85,176986],"class_list":{"0":"post-489854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-decathlon-cma-cgm","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tiesj-benoot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}