Wout van Aert has been dominated out of the World Championships and won’t race once more this season as a result of knee damage he sustained within the crash that ended his Vuelta a España.
Visma-Lease a Bike revealed that the Belgian rider had “suffered a severe knee damage that can require intensive care.”
Van Aert deserted the Vuelta throughout stage 16 after injuring his proper knee in a crash on the descent of Collada Llomena.
Although preliminary scans in Spain revealed that Van Aert had sustained no fractures within the crash, he underwent additional evaluation in hospital in Herentals following his return to Belgium on Wednesday.
“Van Aert stays within the hospital in Belgium, the place he’ll obtain intravenous antibiotics to minimise the chance of an infection,” Visma-Lease a Bike mentioned.
“He will then take a break to make a full restoration earlier than cautiously setting his sights on the following season.”
Van Aert received three phases of the Vuelta, and he was main each the factors and king of the mountains classification earlier than the crash that pressured him out of the race.
The 29-year-old had already endured an interruption to his 2024 season when a heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen ended his Classics marketing campaign prematurely and likewise dominated him out of a deliberate Giro d’Italia debut.
After recovering from his accidents, which included a damaged collarbone, Van Aert lined out on the Tour de France in help of Jonas Vingegaard after which received a bronze medal within the time trial on the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Van Aert proceeded to get pleasure from a glowing run of type on the Vuelta. He wore the pink jersey of race chief for 2 days within the opening week and he proceeded to say a hat-trick of stage wins at Castelo Branco, Cordoba and Baiona.
His performances had confirmed him among the many favourites for the World Championships in Zurich, the place he would have shared management of the Belgian crew with Remco Evenepoel, however this newest setback has introduced a untimely finish to his season.