Who could replace Wout van Aert in Visma’s Tour de France squad?

Wout van Aert will miss the 2026 Tour de France after failing to recover sufficiently from an elbow injury, leaving Visma | Lease a Bike with a significant gap to fill in Jonas Vingegaard’s supporting cast.

The Belgian crashed during training shortly before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the former Critérium du Dauphiné, and started the race with a wound to his elbow. Although he demonstrated his class by sprinting to victory on stage five, he abandoned the following day after an infection developed in the injury.

Van Aert and the team have now concluded that he will not be able to reach the Tour in the condition required to perform at his best.

“The Tour de France is one of my main goals every year,” Van Aert said. “Unfortunately, a crash during training has put a spanner in the works, and the injury to my elbow has worsened and has still not healed sufficiently.”

His absence represents a major setback for Visma. Few riders in the peloton can perform as many different roles as Van Aert. He can contest sprints, survive difficult climbing stages, ride in breakaways for the win or as a satellite rider and work deep into the finale for a general classification leader.

The 31-year-old has competed in every Tour since making his debut in 2019 and was due to make his eighth appearance this July. Across his seven participations, he has collected ten stage victories, worn both the yellow and green jerseys and regularly played a decisive supporting role in Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour campaigns.

His versatility is particularly difficult to replace with a single rider. Visma must therefore decide which of Van Aert’s qualities it needs most: strength on the flat, protection in chaotic stages, climbing support or tactical flexibility.

The team has said that Van Aert’s replacement will be announced on June 23. Until then, we take a closer look at the options available to the Dutch team.

Jonas Vingegaard will lead Visma’s attempt to win back the Tour de France after securing the Giro d’Italia in May. The Dane is aiming to complete one of cycling’s most demanding challenges by winning the Giro and Tour in the same season.

Several experienced riders appear certain to support him.

Sepp Kuss is expected to be Vingegaard’s most important mountain domestique. The American has played a key role in each of the Dane’s Grand Tour victories, including his Giro d’Italia triumph last month, where Kuss also claimed a stage win. His ability to stay with the leading contenders on long climbs makes him central to Visma’s plans.

Matteo Jorgenson provides another strong option in the mountains. The American recently finished fourth overall at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and has developed into a rider capable of both supporting Vingegaard and pursuing a high general classification finish himself, giving Visma additional tactical flexibility.

Victor Campenaerts offers experience, endurance, power and total commitment on flat and rolling terrain, as well as in the early sections of the major climbs. He was part of Visma’s successful Giro squad and could again play a crucial role at the Tour by controlling breakaways, positioning Vingegaard and guiding him safely through exposed stages.

Bruno Armirail and Edoardo Affini are two of the team’s other major engines. Both are powerful rouleurs who can set the pace for long periods and will naturally play an important role in the team time trial. Armirail can also be expected to provide valuable support for Vingegaard in the mountains.

Per Strand Hageneswas reportedly set to take the place of the injured Christophe Laporte. The Norwegian’s selection would give Visma another powerful classics specialist, and he was according to HLN expected to be the final rider added to the squad before Van Aert was ruled out.

But who will step up and take the place of Van Aert? 

To answer that question, three factors must be considered: which riders are available, which qualities are already present within the team and what the Tour de France route will demand from the squad.

Starting with the second point, Visma already has considerable strength on flat and rolling terrain through Campenaerts, Affini, Armirail and Strand Hagenes. This reflects an approach the team adopted earlier in the decade, successfully deploying classics specialists such as Van Aert, Nathan Van Hooydonck and Christophe Laporte across a wide variety of terrain.

With the right preparation, these powerful riders also proved capable of making a valuable contribution in the mountains. As a result, Visma did not have to rely exclusively on pure climbers to support its general classification leader. 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG later adopted a similar approach by recruiting and deploying riders such as Nils Politt and Tim Wellens, with Florian Vermeersch potentially taking on a comparable role this year.

Versatility will be particularly important at this Tour de France. The route features an unusual selection of mountain stages, with relatively few days containing a steady succession of first category and hors catégorie climbs, as well as several unpredictable transitional stages. 

However, Visma already appears to have covered many of those demands with its current selection.

Looking at what the team still lacks, and which riders are available, it would make sense for Visma to use the final place on another climber.

In Jorgenson and Kuss, Vingegaard already has two strong mountain domestiques, while Campenaerts and Armirail are also capable of surviving deep into certain climbing stages. Even so, an additional rider for the high mountains would provide valuable depth and give the team greater tactical flexibility.

The main candidates appear to be Jørgen Nordhagen, Wilco Kelderman, Bart Lemmen, Davide Piganzoli and Ben Tulett.

Jørgen Nordhagen is the youngest of Visma’s climbing candidates and one of the team’s brightest prospects for the future.

The 21-year-old Norwegian has made a major step forward in 2026, finishing eighth overall at the UAE Tour, second at O Gran Camiño and fourth at the Tour de Romandie.

Nordhagen is light, explosive and capable of staying with elite climbers. On pure climbing form, he would be a logical addition to a squad built around Vingegaard’s general classification ambitions.

His lack of Grand Tour experience is the main question. The Tour would represent an enormous debut, particularly in a team carrying ambitions of overall victory. He also abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes due to illness, although that does not necessarily rule him out with several weeks remaining before the Grand Départ.

The ever-reliable Wilco Kelderman would be the safest and most experienced climbing option.

The Dutchman has ridden numerous Grand Tours and has spent much of his career supporting overall contenders. He knows how to manage three week races, understands the demands of protecting a leader and can remain useful deep into mountain stages.

His strong time trialling ability also makes him valuable on flat and rolling terrain, where he can work at the front of the peloton, help control breakaways and protect Vingegaard in exposed sections.

Kelderman has had a quiet 2026 season, and he abandoned the Giro after crashing on the opening weekend in Bulgaria. He does not appear to have shown the same level of form as Tulett or Nordhagen, and his selection would therefore be based primarily on experience, reliability and versatility rather than recent results.

Bart Lemmen is another option for the Dutch team. The 30-year-old has quickly established himself as a dependable Grand Tour domestique since joining Visma. He is comfortable riding at the front for long periods and can support a leader on medium mountain stages as well as on more difficult terrain, as he showed on the Passo Giau.

He also already has Tour de France experience. In 2024, his debut season with Visma, Lemmen received a late call up to replace Sepp Kuss and went on to play a valuable supporting role in the team’s Tour campaign.

Lemmen was part of the squad that helped Vingegaard win the Giro, making him an obvious candidate from a sporting perspective. The main concern is fatigue after an intensive three weeks in Italy.

Nevertheless, his recent experience working with Vingegaard, combined with his proven ability to step into a Tour squad at short notice, could count strongly in his favour.

In a world without limitations, Davide Piganzoli would also deserve serious consideration.

The 23-year-old Italian made a major impression in the Giro d’Italia in May. He was often the final rider alongside Vingegaard in the mountains, setting a demanding pace before still managing to finish close to the leading contenders himself. That consistency ultimately carried him to eighth place overall, while he narrowly missed out on winning the young rider classification.

Piganzoli earned widespread praise from both his teammates and the team management, and there is little doubt that he is being developed for a prominent leadership role within Visma in the years ahead.

The question, however, is whether the team would be willing to disrupt that carefully managed development by asking him to ride a second Grand Tour so soon. At this stage, that appears unlikely.

Last but not least, Ben Tulett may be the most well rounded option available to Visma.

The 24-year-old is a strong climber who can also excel in demanding one day races. He finished third at both La Flèche Wallonne and Eschborn Frankfurt this season, while also placing 13th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

More recently, Tulett finished 17th overall at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after delivering several solid performances in support of Jorgenson. He also played his part in Visma’s victory in the team time trial.

The British rider already has Grand Tour experience and was part of Vingegaard’s successful Vuelta a España squad last season. His climbing ability would give Visma additional support in the mountains, while his strength on shorter climbs and rolling terrain would make him valuable across a wider range of stages.

Tulett had been preparing for the Vuelta, but acknowledged earlier this season that a late call up for the Tour remained possible if circumstances changed. Van Aert’s withdrawal may be exactly the kind of development that opens the door.