“I don’t really lose sleep over it” - Jordi Meeus set to miss the Tour de France as he focuses on the Classics and the Vuelta a España

Having taken a shock victory on the Champs-Elysées at last year’s Tour de France, Jordi Meeus is now set to miss this year’s race, as BORA-hansgrohe choose to go all-in on Primož Roglič for the general classification.

After Opening Weekend, Meeus chose to skip both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico last week, as he is still lacking form after suffering an illness, which has disrupted his preparation for his Classics campaign.

In an interview with WielerFlits, the Belgian sprinter said “the big goal is the Classics, but I haven’t got the best shape yet. The culprit is a Covid infection just before the start of the season. Which is a shame, but after the Opening Weekend there was a longer training period waiting. Hopefully I will be in top form for the next Classics”.

On his non-selection for the Tour de France, Meeus said “I don’t really lose sleep over it. It was communicated to me fairly early. When I heard the news that Primož would be joining the team, I knew what time it was. I would definitely like to return to the Tour, but not necessarily this year”.

The BORA-hansgrohe rider is choosing to focus on the Spring Classics for now, but is set to ride the Vuelta a España later in the year, as he went on to say that “after the Classics, I won’t do the Giro d’Italia anyway. That is always a difficult combination with the classics. The Vuelta is on the program and there are still plenty of races”.