It is no longer a rumour and no longer something in doubt: Wout Van Aert returns to racing this Wednesday at the Tour of Denmark. The Belgian rider will be leading Team Visma | Lease a Bike as he returns to racing ahead of his last big goals of the season.
Van Aert rode the spring classics this year where he managed to finally win a cobbled monument for the first time in his career, beating Tadej Pogacar in an exciting finale to Paris-Roubaix. He had built up his form towards the Tour de France this summer but his preparation ahead of the Tour Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes was less than ideal and a crash saw him get an infection in an elbow wound.
He was forced to skip the Tour de France, lacking the form to be competitive. Jonas Vingegaard then also crashed out of the race, one marked by crashes and illnesses before and during the race – Sepp Kuss was also on his way to winning stage 20 when he fell on the descent to the Alpe d’Huez.
In Paris, the team once again tried to succeed using its stage hunters, but they were no match to Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar’s attack on Montmartre. “Unfortunately, we were missing a victory in the final week, but I look back on our opening in Barcelona with great satisfaction”, Matteo Jorgenson said in a press release issued by the team.
“As a team, we showed resilience and tried to get the absolute maximum out of the past few days. The Tour de France is always tough, but for me this was by far the hardest edition I have ever ridden. Completely different from previous years. Today was difficult again as well. I’m really proud of the team.”
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