Through the Belgian press that yesterday at the Tour of Switzerland listened to some managers of Visma-Lease a Bike, new information about Wout van Aert has emerged. The Belgian, although with regret, is already looking ahead and, having to miss the national championships at the end of June, his attention is now completely focused on the Vuelta of Spain, which will be held from August 22, before the World Championships in Montreal at the end of September, his main objective for the end of the season.

But what happened to van Aert's elbow? After a training crash on his time trial bike on June 1st, Wout van Aert had problems with his left elbow. «Before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes there was no reason to worry. But during the race, the wound was not healing properly and Wout contracted a bacterial infection» explained his coach, Mathieu Heijboer yesterday at the end of the first stage of the Tour of Switzerland.

Faced with the rapid deterioration of the situation, Visma-Lease a Bike did not hesitate to send the rider back to Belgium the day after his victory at Villars-les-Dombes, but the elbow problem did not resolve. «His condition deteriorated rapidly - declared the team management - For this reason, it was decided to undertake a targeted medical course».

Back in Belgium, Van Aert was admitted to Herentals Hospital, where he underwent surgery to clean the wound. But over the weekend his condition did not improve. On Monday, the wound was disinfected a second time with another surgical procedure. The thirty-one-year-old cyclist then spent one night in the hospital under observation and now must go to the hospital every day for check-ups, following antibiotic therapy.

«Credit must go to the quick reflexes of the medical staff and Dr. Steven Claes and fortunately the worst was avoided - continued Heijboer referring to the risk of septicemia caused by the progression of the infection - Wout is currently undergoing antibiotic therapy, which prevents him from training. This therapy will last at least another week».

The lack of bike training and the burden of antibiotic therapy forced the Visma-Lease a Bike staff to stop Van Aert to avoid arriving at the Tour in poor form and with a weakened body. «You can always postpone, but at some point you have to make a decision - emphasized Niermann - Neither Wout nor the team wanted to risk rushing things so close to the Tour. It is obviously a great disappointment, because the Tour de France is one of our main objectives every year».

For the first time since 2018, Wout van Aert will not be at the start of the Tour de France and this is a statistic that no one would have ever wanted to write. Every time the Flemish rider has won at least one stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, now Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (two in 2019, one in 2020, two in 2022), he has then achieved success at the Tour de France as well (one victory in 2019, two in 2020, three in 2022). This year, however, it will not be so and the boy from Herentals, despite himself, has had to face another setback due to an injury, but the team is convinced that upon his return he will be in form again and ready to achieve new successes.