“It wasn’t for nothing that they decided this" - Wout van Aert's teammate offers Belgian advice after injury derails Tour de France

After Wout van Aert's career-defining spring classics saw him finally get his hands on the Paris-Roubaix cobble trophy, it was full steam ahead for the Belgian and Visma | Lease a Bike. But despite realising their monument dream, the Tour de France train was abruptly derailed this week due to injury.

Van Aert suffered a training crash at the beginning of the month, and despite bouncing back with victory at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, his elbow wound became infected, he left the race and doubts emerged about his participation in the Tour de France.

As new details emerge, including that he underwent two surgeries and will be on antibiotics, it's become clear that both rider and team know van Aert would not be on the start line at Barcelona for some time. Furthermore, his teammate believes the team were aware of the grave situation quickly.

Offering his advice to van Aert, 39-year-old veteran Steven Kruijswijk admitted that it is a disappointment for van Aert, particularly given the Tour was his primary goal the past two months.

Kruijswijk told IDL Pro Cycling: “It wasn’t for nothing that they decided this, and that he disappeared from the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. That did show it was more serious than they may have expected.”

“It has such a big impact on his condition that he won’t be ready for the Tour in time. That’s a shame, especially for him. With the spring Wout rode, you can only be very satisfied.”

However, a seasoned veteran who has overcome multiple difficult injuries, the Dutch rider knows that these things happen. Kruijswijk's advice? dust yourself off and move forward.

He said: “That the Tour falls away once this year; unfortunate, but s**t happens. As a team, you can’t really do anything about it. I was looking at my own career recently too, and the longer it gets, the more time there is to deal with setbacks. You shouldn’t weigh it up too much and just look ahead again.”

"For Wout it will probably be alright, but it is just a bit too close to the Tour now.”

On Wednesday, van Aert's coach offered more insight on the injury: "Before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, there was no reason to worry.

"But during the race, the wound wasn't healing properly, and Wout contracted a bacterial infection," Mathieu Heijboer shared following stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse in words to Het Laatste Nieuws.

What looked like a minor injury at the start of the race, which was not affecting his performance on the bike, continued worsening after he departed the race. Quickly it was learnt that he would not join the team at its altitude camp, and that a Tour de France presence would actually be at risk.