Visma may have decided on a potential replacement for Affini at the Tour - And it's neither Tulett or Nordhagen

Bart Lemmen will not line up at the Dutch National Road Championships in Nijmegen this Sunday after being withdrawn by Team Visma | Lease a Bike, with the Dutch rider now on standby for a possible late call-up to the Tour de France.

The decision comes in the wake of Edoardo Affini's crash during the Italian National Time Trial Championships on Thursday. Although the Italian escaped without any fractures, he sustained a deep laceration to his groin, leaving his participation in the Tour in doubt.

Only days ago, Lemmen had made it clear during the Tour de Suisse that the national championships remained part of his schedule, saying he was looking forward to competing on home roads after another impressive spell of racing.

The 30-year-old arrives in excellent form after finishing third on two stages of the Tour de Suisse before securing an impressive tenth place overall. Those performances followed a strong Giro d'Italia, where he established himself as one of Jonas Vingegaard's most valuable climbing domestiques during the decisive mountain stages.

While Bart Lemmen has not yet been officially selected for the Tour de France squad, Team Visma | Lease a Bike has confirmed to the Indeleiderstrui that he is the team's first reserve. With Affini's condition still being assessed, the Dutch outfit decided it was best to remove Lemmen from the Dutch National Championships to allow him the ideal preparation should he be required to start the Grand Tour in Barcelona on July 4.

The team still has time before making a final decision, but Lemmen now remains on standby should Affini ultimately be ruled out.

There were no indications of illness or injury behind Lemmen's absence from the Dutch championships. On Friday, he uploaded a training ride to Strava, completing 119.27 kilometres before later adding another 24.87 kilometres to the session.

He simply captioned the ride: "Business".

The training further underlined that the Dutchman remains fully fit and ready should Visma call upon him for cycling's biggest race.

A late Tour de France selection would not be unfamiliar territory for Lemmen. Last year, he also entered the Tour at the last minute after replacing Sepp Kuss, who was forced to withdraw because of Covid-19 shortly before the Grand Départ.

Considering his recent performances, Lemmen would represent a logical replacement if Affini cannot recover in time. However, he has already accumulated a demanding racing programme this season, beginning with the Muscat Classic and Tour of Oman in February before adding the Volta a Catalunya, NXT Classic, Giro d'Italia and, most recently, the Tour de Suisse.

Should Team Visma | Lease a Bike make the call, Bart Lemmen appears ready to answer it once again.