Bert de Waele misses Belgian Classics opener

Bert de Waele does not feel like laughing these days, missing two important races

Bert de Waele does not feel like laughing these days, missing two important races (Image credit: Bjorn Haake)

Bert de Waele of Landbouwkrediet-Colnago will not be able to race in the Belgian Classics opening races this weekend. The 32-year-old suffers from an inflammation in his knees. De Waele is out for 10 days.

The team's doctor said there are no worries in the long run, but racing this weekend would not be advisable. De Waele crashed in the Etoile de Bessèges and then had to cancel his plans to race Tour du Haut Var due to the same knee problem.

His scheduled programme would see De Waele race the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen (March 6-8) next.

De Waele finished second in the 2006 Het Volk, behind Philippe Gilbert.

The Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team will send the following squads to the weekend races:

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Saturday): Sébastien Delfosse, Frédéric Amorison, Koen Barbé, David Boucher, Filip Meirhaeghe, Kevin Neirynck, Bert Scheirlinckx and Geert Verheyen. Directeur Sportif will be Gino Verhasselt.

Beverbeek Classic (Saturday): Rob Peeters, Dirk Bellemakers, Benjamin Gourgue, Jonathan Bertrand and Denis Flahaut. Directeur Sportif is Jef De Bilde.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (Sunday): Denis Flahaut, Dirk Bellemakers, Frédéric Amorison, Koen Barbé, Filip Meirhaeghe, Benjamin Gourgue and Bert Scheirlinckx. Directeur Sportif is Claude Vancoillie

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1