Wout van Aert returns in Le Samyn after illness disrupted season start
Wout van Aert will make his long awaited return to racing at Le Samyn after illness forced him to miss Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Belgian all rounder had been scheduled to open his road campaign last weekend, but a late setback altered those plans.
The race organiser confirmed on Monday via social media that Van Aert will take the start.
Van Aert returned last week from a high altitude camp in Sierra Nevada in good shape, with his build up to the spring Classics back on track after fracturing his ankle in January. However, he fell ill in the days leading up to Opening Weekend and was unable to take the start in Gent.
Team management struck a calm tone as they assessed the situation. Speaking previously to Wielerflits, Head of Racing Grischa Niermann underlined that the broader Classics block remains the priority. “Everything was actually going according to plan with Wout beforehand, he’s had a very good training period,” Niermann said.
“He no longer had any injury problems and could do everything in training. However, we don’t have a crystal ball to say how quickly he’ll be fit again. It’s not like he’s terminally ill, it’s more that he’s sick, like we all get sometimes. He’ll be fine in the long run.”
Niermann also outlined the goals ahead. “Wout is heading into a whole period with many great races. Hopefully the illness will not affect the fact that he can start that period on an upward curve. Hopefully that will already be the case on Tuesday in Le Samyn, on Saturday in Strade Bianche and afterwards in Tirreno Adriatico. We hope he gets back to full fitness as soon as possible.”
On Strava, Van Aert shared his 74 kilometre training ride from Ghent to Kortrijk on Monday. “Back Samyn (Dutch for 'together') with the boys”, he wrote. “Happy to be racing tomorrow (Tuesday)!”
At Le Samyn, Team Visma | Lease a Bike will not rely solely on their returning leader. Christophe Laporte, who finished fourth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, is also set to start, giving the Dutch squad a second card to play as they look to build on Matthew Brennan’s success at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
Last year the race was won by Mathieu van der Poel. This time, however, he opted to step away after winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and focus on a training block towards his bigger goals later this spring.
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