At a time when it seems so many riders are having their seasons derailed by illness, injuries or crashes, some good news for Italian Edoardo Affini.
After a frightening crash at the national time trial championships, he’s received the all-clear and was cleared to start the Tour de France.
The TT crash
The Italian had been among the favourites for the tricolore before his race ended just six kilometres into the 40.3-km course from Santuario di Vicoforte to Barolo. Video of the incident appeared to show his front tire blowing off the rim before he lost control and crashed heavily, even tumbling over the guard rail.
Despite the dramatic images, Affini remained conscious throughout the incident and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
Medical examinations found no fractures, and Visma–Lease a Bike later confirmed he had escaped serious injury.
“Affini crashed heavily during the Italian national time trial Championships and was taken to hospital. He never lost consciousness,” the team said. “Examinations at the hospital showed that no fractures were sustained.”
Visma’s Tour de France bid
The 30-year-old has since recovered sufficiently to be named in Visma–Lease a Bike’s squad for the Tour de France, giving the Dutch team another key engine for the three-week race as it chases yellow with Jonas Vingegaard.
The same can’t be said, sadly, for Belgian Wout van Aert. The 2026 Paris-Roubaix winner came into Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes bandaged after a seemingly innocuous crash while training. He even took a win during the stage race. But then, things got worse.
“After his victory, his elbow became very swollen,” Heijboer said. “The following morning there were signs of an infection, so we didn’t hesitate and sent him back to Belgium. In a very short time the situation had worsened.”
Van Aert underwent surgery and has since been treated with antibiotics. But the time in hospital and subsequent recovery meant he had to skip his first Tour since 2021.