No Flanders and Roubaix for Jan Tratnik: "Luckily all bones are in one piece"

Jan Tratnik entered the season with tremendous form and experienced an incredible month of February which included a win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. However into the most important races of the spring, the Slovenian is forced to recover from injuries suffered in multiple crashes.

"Not what we wanted. We worked so hard last weeks to be ready for Ronde van Vlaanderen , but crash on Gent - Wevelgem did too much damage to my body," Tratnik admitted in an Instagram post. "Luckily all bones are in one piece, but I have too much pain in my leg muscles, that there is no way to continue. We tried everything to be ready for Sunday, but there is no improvement."

The Slovenian crashed out of Gent - Wevelgem, and then returned to crash out of Dwars door Vlaanderen once again. Damage to his knee mainly makes it impossible for him to continue racing now. He is one of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's many casualties this spring; he joins Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte in the sidelines of the Dutch team. He will take some time off the bike to make sure he can fulfill his schedule beyond the cobbles.

"Now I first need to take some mental rest and give time to my body to recover. Race schedule for upcoming months is very busy, so we want that I will be 100%," he says. "I think it was the best decision and I’m fully motivated to come on Giro d'Italia in best shape as possible. Thanks for all support and nice wishes! Good luck to Team Visma | Lease a Bike on Sunday, and fast recovery to Wout van Aert. I know you will come back stronger than ever."