Visma-Lease a Bike leave for their last Tour de France training camp on Monday, but there are doubts about whether Wout van Aert will be on the plane to the French Alps.
The Belgian withdrew from the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes the morning after winning stage 5, citing discomfort in an elbow injury sustained in a training crash ahead of the race.
There have since been conflicting reports in the Belgian media, where Van Aert’s state of health is being covered meticulously.
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Het Laatste Nieuws suggested the wound on Van Aert’s had become infected, though this was contradicted in a subsequent report by Sporza.
Het Nieuwsblad and Sporza both report that the wound had become “inflamed” or “aggravated”, and that Van Aert returned to Belgium on Friday and went straight to the hospital in Herentals, where he underwent an ultrasound scan and treatment on the wound.
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Team director Maarten Wynants had described the sudden swelling of the wound as “a mystery“, but Sporza reckon they’ve cracked it.
According to their commentator Christophe Vandegoor, who apparently spoke to Van Aert’s agent, the culprit was the stage 3 team time trial, and specifically the TT extensions where a rider rests their whole arms on the handlebars rather gripping with their hands.
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This sustained pressure and aggravation on the wound site could very well have caused it to inflame.
It remains to be seen whether Van Aert travels to Tignes on Monday for Visma’s final altitude training tune-up ahead of the Tour de France. Team leader Jonas Vingegaard is due to be there along with other key members of the squad, some joining straight from the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which had been the plan for Van Aert.
“There is a very real chance that he will not leave for altitude training immediately,” states Sporza.
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There had already been doubts about Van Aert’s form as he struggled on the opening days of the race formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné, revealing he’d suffered the blow to his elbow and also his leg a few kilometres from home while training on his time trial bike.
He looked to have put those doubts to bed with his sprint victory on stage 5 but the next morning he was out of the race, missing three days of heavy racing, and shrouded in fresh uncertainty.
“We are looking at this week with mixed feelings. He is happy with the victory, but there are also concerns. This is not ideal heading into the Tour,” said Wynants.
“First we need to see that the elbow recovers, and then it’s step by step. After that, we will draw up the plan again.”
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