Wout van Aert "good to go" for Tour de France

Jumbo-Visma are having an incredibly strong lineup for the upcoming Tour de France, having in Wout van Aert a critical piece for stage wins, points jersey and support for Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard throughout the race.

“It looks like the expectations were right: some rest healed the injury and now he’s good to go," a member of Jumbo-Visma's staff told Velonews. Van Aert missed the road race nationals in Belgium - won by Tim Merlier - where he would be a prime candidate in defending his title, due to a knee inflamation that risked having him worsen the condition right before the Tour.

"He missed the nationals, which was a blow for him, and some training sessions on altitude, but we believe and hope that he is anyway ready to be in the mix for the first Tour de France jerseys," it was said however. Confidence looms large on the Dutch team, who seem to be arriving at the Tour with their main block unharmed and in perfect condition.

He explained how van Aert came down with the issue, but one that has in the meantime been fixed: “After a few days the knee was still hurting, so we decided to stop training and do some examinations. They showed some irritation, so Wout had to stop training for a week since the incident," he said.

"He was allowed to do jogging and swimming only. Last weekend he did some excercises, which felt OK. Yesterday he has been able to do normal training," it was concluded. The opening stage in Copenhagen will already be a first goal for van Aert, who will be seeking points but above all a stage win and yellow jersey to bring to Jumbo-Visma.