PROFESSIONALS | 06/20/2024 | 1:00 pm
by Francesca Monzone
There Visma-Lease a Bike has dissolved all reservations, and today announced the participation of Vingegaard and Van Aert in the next Tour de Francewhich will start from Florence in a few days.
Van Aert had fallen on March 27 while running through Flanders, suffering fractures to the sternum, clavicle and some ribs. Also Vingegaard had been stopped since April 4, the day in which in Spain in the Basque Country, he ended up on the ground suffering a broken collarbone, several ribs and a pneumothorax. Both riders had been forced to stop for a long time and today the Dutch team confirmed their participation in the yellow race.
“I’m thrilled to be at the start of the Tour – said Vingegaard – The last few months have not always been easy, but I thank my family and Team Visma | Lease a Bike for their incredible support. We’ve worked together to get to this moment and, of course, I can’t wait to see where I’ve gotten to. I feel good and I’m very motivated.”
Other statements came from sporting director Merijn Zeeman: “I am very proud of Jonas and the preparatory team we have. Jonas comes back from a major injury. In recent weeks he has shown that he is a champion, both mentally and physically. Of course, we don’t yet know how far it can go. We are cautious because he hasn’t been able to race and his preparation has been less than ideal, to put it mildly. But he will be racing strong and motivated”.
Van Aert’s recovery was also long after the fall and in recent weeks he was at altitude in Tignes together with Vingegaard to complete his preparations for the Tour de France.
Wout van Aert he has a total of nine stage victories at the yellow race in addition to the green jersey of the points classification. Due to the injury, the Flemish was unable to participate in the Giro d’Italia and is now ready to support the Dane towards the conquest of the third Grande Boucle. “I can’t wait for the Tour de France. At first this wasn’t the plan, but after my growth in the last few weeks, I really wanted to be there and the team accepted. Our main goal is, of course, to run a top classification with Jonas, I want to contribute to this with an excellent team.”
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