19/01/2024

Tiesj Benoot's season start delayed by post-covid complications

Sadly, Tiesj Benoot's opening to the 2024 season has been forced back with the 29-year-old Belgian still struggling to return to full fitness after contracting covid during a winter training camp.

The former Strade Bianche winner contracted the virus during Team Visma | Lease a Bike's January training camp in Spain and was so struck down, he was unable to ride a bike for a week. "Still a mark on my account," Benoot says in conversation with Het Laatste Nieuws. "You don't just catch up with that gap - that's a utopia."

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Initially, Benoot had been scheduled to open up his 2024 season at the Vuelta a Murcia on February 10th. Now that has been wiped from the Belgian's calendar, as has the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior with his first ride of the season now seemingly becoming the Volta ao Algarve, February 14th to 18th.

“We didn't want to push,” explained representatives of Team Visma | Lease a Bike to HLN . “Those few extra days of preparation are welcome. Tiesj has suffered quite a lot.”