Wout van Aert ruled out of Tour de France with elbow infection
Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that Belgian star Wout van Aert will miss the Tour de France after an infected elbow wound left him unfit to start. Van Aert injured the elbow in a pre-race time trial crash before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and the wound worsened during recovery, prompting him to delay attendance at Visma's altitude camp in Tignes. His absence removes one of the peloton's most versatile riders from Visma's roster, forcing the team to reassign sprint, time trial and classics duties just two weeks before the race. That matters because Van Aert regularly contests sprints, time trials and cobbled stages, and his absence increases stage-winning opportunities for rivals and alters how general classification contenders will be supported.
