“That injury must be much worse than they said” - Concerns grow over Wout van Aert after Tour de France withdrawal stuns Belgian experts
Cycling
Wout van Aert’s Tour de France withdrawal has raised fresh concern in Belgium over the elbow injury that ended his July plans and left Team Visma | Lease a Bike without one of their defining riders.
Van Aert had already abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes after five stages, but the final decision still landed hard. He has been one of Visma’s Tour constants across seven consecutive appearances, combining 10 stage wins with the kind of support work that helped Jonas Vingegaard win yellow.
Christophe Vandegoor, one of Sporza’s leading cycling commentators, summed up why the absence feels so significant. “Wout van Aert is always there,” Vandegoor said. “Within the team, he is a bit of a ‘Mister Tour de France’, with 10 stage wins and seven consecutive appearances.”
The bigger worry, though, sits with the injury itself. Jose De Cauwer, the former Belgian national coach and long-time Sporza commentator, was stunned by the news when Sporza asked him for his reaction. “Come on, you’re kidding me?” De Cauwer said. “I was sitting here in my garden with binoculars, watching woodpeckers. Then that injury must be much worse than they said last week.”
Belgian concern grows around Van Aert’s elbow injury
Van Aert’s Tour withdrawal was not presented as a slow, marginal selection call. Vandegoor pointed to how quickly the decision followed the end of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, where Van Aert had abandoned after five stages.
“The speed with which this decision has been made is striking,” Vandegoor said. “Barely three days after the end of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, where Van Aert abandoned after five stages.”
De Cauwer reached the same conclusion. “Then we do indeed have to conclude that the wound was worse than we all thought. A blow for Van Aert.”
For Visma, the damage is not limited to losing a rider capable of winning stages. Van Aert is one of the rare figures in the modern peloton who can shape a Grand Tour in several different ways: sprint threat, time trial engine, mountain helper, road captain and public face.
His Paris-Roubaix victory earlier this season had only sharpened that profile. “Wout simply is Visma,” De Cauwer said. “Not only when it comes to winning races, but also towards the press. Since his victory in Paris-Roubaix, he has been more popular than ever. Much more than Vingegaard with his two Tour wins.”
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Van Aert’s absence changes the texture of Visma’s Tour squad. He would have been important in the opening team time trial, on flat and nervous days, and in the long transition stages where Vingegaard’s yellow jersey challenge will need protection before the mountains.
Inside a Grand Tour, De Cauwer sees Van Aert as more than a rider with a race number. “Wout fulfils an important role on the bus, in the hotel, in the peloton and in the race,” he said. “He is the man who brought the motto ‘unity makes strength’ into the team,” De Cauwer added. “Just think of his huge work for Jonas Vingegaard on the Hautacam stage four years ago, and how he paced Simon Yates to Giro victory last year.”
The riders who do start the Tour for Visma may still form a strong support group around Vingegaard. Van Aert leaves a different type of gap: a missing road captain, a missing stage threat and a missing reference point inside one of cycling’s biggest teams.
Canada offers Van Aert a new centrepiece
Van Aert’s Tour is gone, but the World Championships now loom larger over the rest of his season. De Cauwer had already questioned before the elbow issue escalated whether the Tour was really Van Aert’s main target for 2026. His appearance at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes did little to change that view.
“Before his elbow misery, I already had the idea that the Tour was not the most important race of the year for Wout this year,” De Cauwer said. “Wout was not at his sharpest when he appeared at the start of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.”
The World Championship road race in Canada now offers the clearest route back into the centre of Van Aert’s season. The condition of his elbow will decide how realistic that target becomes, but missing the Tour could leave him fresher later in the year. “They say every disadvantage has its advantage,” De Cauwer said. “Wout will be fresher at the World Championships.”
Vandegoor sees the rainbow jersey as a serious opportunity if Van Aert reaches the race in full condition. “The World Championship course in Canada is tailor-made for him,” he said. “There is a very big chance there to become world champion.”
Van Aert’s Tour de France is over before it began. Belgium’s concern now sits with the elbow injury that ended his July plans, but Canada may yet give the rest of his season a very different finish.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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