No duel with van der Poel after all - Wout van Aert recovers from injury but falls ill again and misses Omloop het Nieuwsblad

Wout van Aert is experiencing another cursed spring. The Belgian managed to make a return to form and was set to be at the start line of Omloop het Nieuwbslad for the opening day of the spring classics but this is no longer going to be the case. The leader of Team Visma | Lease a Bike has come down with illness and his first clash with Mathieu van der Poel is being delayed.

In a statement issued this morning, the Dutch team confirmed the health issue that has come about this week. "Sadly, Wout van Aert will not be able to start in Omloop het Nieuwsblad on Saturday, as he has fallen ill. The winner of the 2022 edition of the race, will take his time to recover". The Belgian will be replaced by Pietro Mattio in the lineup; which will now be led by Christophe Laporte who crashed out of the Vuelta a Andalucia last weekend, and Briton Matthew Brennan.

This affects the team tactics significantly, as the team will now certainly put its full focus on a potential sprint where they would have two cards to play. Van Aert's form is unknown, but would always provide a wildcard factor, as well as more potential to attack, sprint or even form a leadout into Ninove.

In 2024 Van Aert's spring was pulverized by a crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen which saw him suffer several fractures. Later in the year, a crash at the Vuelta a España ended his season and in 2025 he came ill right before the Giro d'Italia where he aimed to win a stage and wear the pink jersey in the opening stages. At the Exact Cross Mol he broke his ankle when he was having his first battle with Mathieu van der Poel in an iconic snowy venue, and has been doing rehab work since. His return will only happen in Le Samyn, provisionally, as long as he is able to recover from another major obstacle.

“Obviously it’s a big blow for me to miss out on my first race, having prepared for the classics season the whole winter," Van Aert said. We had a good training camp at Sierra Nevada and I was feeling really strong. But unfortunately, it’s also that time of the year where it’s easy to fall ill. 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.”