Just as he did before the Giro d’Italia in May, Wout van
Aert has fallen ill in the final days before a Grand Tour. The Belgian star was
absent from the national championships over the weekend due to a stomach flu,
with concerns briefly surfacing over his availability for the
Tour de France,
which begins this Saturday.
Van Aert’s team,
Team Visma | Lease a Bike, confirmed the
setback came unexpectedly. “It also came as a bolt from the blue for us,” said
team manager Maarten Wynants to VTM. “The training camp went well and there
were no indications. I saw him this morning and he didn’t look well. We are not
taking any risks towards the Tour, which will be here very soon. Or the Tour de
France in jeopardy? Today was certainly not good enough to start. But stomach
flu comes unexpectedly and hopefully will pass quickly.”
The timing mirrors Van Aert’s misfortune earlier this year,
when he fell ill directly before the start of the Giro. But there is more
optimism this time that the setback is short-term.
His close friend
Daan Soete was quick to shut down any
suggestion the illness was a convenient excuse to skip the Belgian
Championships. “I was still in touch with Wout on Saturday and he was up for
the BK. He felt good, so the news was a surprise to us too. I heard that he has
stomach flu and that his entire family had it too.”
Soete added that Van Aert had been looking forward to
racing. “The course suited him and such a final race is always good towards the
Tour. Wout also wanted to become champion and always has ambition for this.
It’s not like he knew it beforehand.”
He also pushed back against the idea that Van Aert’s
recurring issues before major races are cause for concern. “Your search for top
form is a fine line. The better you get, the sharper you are, and if you come
into contact with people, you can get sick more quickly.”
“In the Giro it was a lot worse and Wout came out of it
well,” Soete said. “So he can handle something. Nobody has to fear the start of
the Tour. If it is resolved within two days, then you lose very little.
Sometimes extra rest can’t hurt. That’s how it is now, then you just have to
use this to get some extra rest. It will probably be fine.”