Wout van Aert has been ruled out of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday through illness.
The Belgian was set to make his 2026 racing debut at the season-opening Classic, but will now have to sit on the sidelines.
The Visma-Lease a Bike team did not specify what illness is afflicting the former Omloop winner, nor whether he will be able to ride the Ename Samyn Classic as planned on Tuesday.
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“Obviously, it’s a big blow for me to miss out on my first race, having prepared for the classics season the whole winter,” Van Aert said.
“We had a good training camp at Sierra Nevada, and I was feeling really strong. But unfortunately, it’s also that time of the year where it’s easy to fall ill. I remain positive about the feeling I had on training and am confident that I will be able to return to racing soon. Just not this Saturday.”
Van Aert has faced plenty of setbacks in the Classics over the past few years, and this illness marks a new setback in an off-season that was supposed to pave the way for a clean run at the 2026 spring Classics campaign.
Van Aert fractured his ankle at the Exact Cross cyclo-cross race in Mol on January 2. The injury required surgery and cast doubt over his ability to complete his planned training schedule for the road season.
The 31-year-old’s recovery appeared to be progressing well. However, his recent altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains was disrupted by foul weather, meaning he was forced to ride indoors on the rollers on several days rather than his planned rides up and down the climbs.
Van Aert is still on the start list for the Ename Samyn Classic, a Belgian semi-classic, on Tuesday, but his participation there is naturally in doubt. His team did not refer to the race in Thursday’s statement, only confirming his absence from the Omloop.
Visma-Lease a Bike announced that Italian neo-pro Pietro Mattio will replace Van Aert in the team's lineup on Saturday.
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