{"id":447341,"date":"2026-02-26T21:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447341\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T21:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:25:15","slug":"wout-van-aert-to-miss-omloop-nieuwsblad-as-visma-lease-a-bike-rider-suffering-with-illness-big-blow-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447341\/","title":{"rendered":"Wout van Aert to miss Omloop Nieuwsblad as Visma-Lease a Bike rider suffering with illness – ‘Big blow for me’"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Oh my word!’ – Watch the best cycling finishes of 2025<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

Wout van Aert is to miss this weekend’s Omloop Nieuwsblad, live on TNT Sports and discovery+,<\/a> as the Visma-Lease a Bike rider has fallen ill.<\/p>\n

The Belgian was scheduled to make his 2026 racing debut on home soil but is not fit enough to compete.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether Van Aert will recover in time to ride the Ename Samyn Classic on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Van Aert said: “Obviously, it\u2019s a big blow for me to miss out on my first race, having prepared for the classics season the whole winter. <\/p>\n

“We had a good training camp at Sierra Nevada and I was feeling really strong. But unfortunately, it\u2019s also that time of the year where it\u2019s easy to fall ill. <\/p>\n

“I remain positive about the feeling I had on training and am confident that I will be able to return to racing soon. Just not this Saturday.”<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike said in their statement that the 31-year-old would “take his time to recover”.<\/p>\n

Pietro Mattio will replace Van Aert in Visma’s lineup, with Christophe Laporte set to lead the team despite crashing out of the Vuelta a Andalucia last weekend, alongside Britain’s Matthew Brennan.<\/p>\n

For Van Aert, it is the latest setback in a period that has often been troubling. He fractured his ankle at the Exact Cross cyclo-cross race in Mol in January and required surgery, but recovered well to ready himself for the road season.<\/p>\n

He was due to take part in an altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains, but bad weather disrupted those plans and meant he instead had to train indoors.<\/p>\n

Van Aert revealed after his ankle injury that there was some lingering discomfort.<\/p>\n

“It probably looks worse than it is,” he said<\/a>. “Walking is still painful at times and I have to be careful not to take too many steps.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s been good that I\u2019ve already got some time on the bike – and it feels more or less fine. It\u2019s always amazing to be back on the bike.<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Disaster as Van Aert suffers nasty fall in snow during battle with Van der Poel<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s more or less okay. The fact that my foot fits in the shoe is a good sign. It still goes up and down a bit. We\u2019re working daily to improve it. Since I started riding again, I\u2019m confident I\u2019ll recover quickly.”<\/p>\n

He added: “They call it a joint fracture, and I had surgery the next day. Since then, it\u2019s gone relatively smoothly, and I could already get on the rollers quite quickly.<\/p>\n

“Right now, when I\u2019m on the bike without intensity, it\u2019s okay. My foot is basically locked in the cycling shoe, so that\u2019s manageable.<\/p>\n

“Normal life is more complicated. Walking takes a lot of energy, and when I put my foot down, the swelling comes back.<\/p>\n

“The fracture is held together with a screw and the ligaments around it need recovery, so we\u2019re looking at it day by day.”<\/p>\n

Watch and stream the 2026 cycling season – including the Tour de France in July – live on TNT Sports and discovery+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Oh my word!’ – Watch the best cycling finishes of 2025 Video credit: TNT Sports Wout van Aert…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,162288,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-447341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-omloop-het-nieuwsblad-men-2026","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}