Tiesj Benoot on Wout van Aert: "Everything indicates that he will be 100%"

Wout van Aert was surely a big influence in having Tiesj Benoot selected for the Tour de France, after the duo raced together throughout the spring into several top results. Now with a different role, Benoot will be riding the Tour de France for the sixth time.

Benoot explained to Het Laatste Nieuws how his teammate and compatriot got injured whilst in a training camp in Tignes: "After the Col du Télégraphe, the Galibier and the Col du Granon, everyone returned by car. Wout was the only one who went to train for a while. Then the incident happened". Van Aert hit his knee in the handlebars, causing an inflamation that saw him concerned and forfeiting the national championships.

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Van Aert said yesterday at a pre-race conference that "everything related to pedaling is not really good," expressing some concern over the incident. Whilst minute, knee injuries are sensitive and put a question mark over the Belgian's race.

“Everything indicates that he will be 100% in the coming weeks... But the messages I receive from Wout are all positive," Benoot confirmed however. Tomorrow the Belgian will be one of the favourites to take the first yellow jersey, whilst Benoot have a supporting role throughout the three weeks for both van Aert and the GC leaders.