The show must go on. Unfortunate as it may be that Wout van Aert has been hit by more bad luck and forced to pull out of the 2026 Tour de France two weeks before it even starts, Visma-Lease a Bike will have to go on without one of their superstars.
It's the lingering effects of a training crash that have ruined Van Aert's hopes of an eighth consecutive Tour appearance, with an elbow wound getting infected – which thankfully didn't get more serious despite the threat of sepsis – and forcing him to recover on antibiotics and cancel his Tour participation.
