Van Aert delays Tour altitude camp travel after injury setback

Wout van Aert has not travelled to Visma | Lease a Bike’s scheduled altitude camp in Tignes this Monday, according to Het Nieuwsblad.

Van Aert suffered a crash on his time trial bike in the days leading up to the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, his final preparation race ahead of the Tour de France.

It was a difficult start to the race for Van Aert, who found himself distanced early in Visma's winning team time trial effort on stage 3. Van Aert bounced back by sprinting to his sixth career stage victory at the race, and his first triumph since winning Paris-Roubaix. 

However, the Belgian didn’t take to the start the following day, with Visma confirming he was “experiencing significant discomfort in his elbow.”

Following medical examinations, Visma sports director Maarten Wynants confirmed that Van Aert’s wound was not healing, leaving question marks over whether he would travel with the team to a scheduled altitude camp in Tignes on Monday. 

In addition, Sporza provided an update via Van Aert's manager Jef Van Den bosch, who confirmed that there is a belief "the irritation was exacerbated by being in the time-trial bar during the team time trial."

Het Nieuwsblad have since reported that Van Aert did not travel on Monday with the team, and Visma have indicated that they are “taking it day by day.” It remains to be seen if Van Aert will join up with his Visma teammates later on, but this marks a setback for the Belgian and the team in their Tour de France preparations.

The Dutch team are looking to regain the Tour crown that they last held in 2023 with Jonas Vingegaard, who is also aiming to complete the Giro-Tour double, having won the Italian Grand Tour on debut in May.

One rider who has already been ruled out of Visma’s Tour squad for the second year running is Christophe Laporte. According to reports from Het Laatste Nieuws, Per Strand Hagenes will step into the void left by the former European Champion. 

Van Aert has been an ever-present in Visma's Tour team since joining the Dutch side in 2019. The 31-year-old Belgian has won 10 stages at the race, won the points classification and wore the yellow jersey in 2022, and was an integral part of Vingegaard's overall victories in 2022 and 2023.

The Tour will kick off in Barcelona on July 4, with Visma’s reported provisional squad supporting Vingegaard including Van Aert, Edoardo Affini, Bruno Armirail, Victor Campenaerts, Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson and now Strand Hagenes.