Wout van Aert 'in a good place' ahead of Tour of Flanders despite Visma-Lease a Bike illness and injury crisis

Wout van Aert’s target of winning the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix in the coming fortnight will not be impacted by Visma-Lease a Bike’s illness and injury issues, according to the team's DS, Grischa Niermann.

It was announced earlier this week that the team would be without Christophe Laporte and Dylan van Baarle for Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. Laporte is suffering from a saddle sore as well as a stomach bug and has also been ruled out of the Tour of Flanders on Easter Sunday. 

Niermann told Cycling Weekly on Tuesday that the loss of Laporte and Van Baarle would be felt but backed the likes of Matteo Jorgenson and Jan Tratnik to fill in for the duo when crunch time in the two Monuments arrives. 

"It’s a big blow, it's not what we planned or what we hoped for but we have to live with it," Niermann said. "We also have Tiesj Benoot, Per Strand Hagenes and Jan Tratnik, who crashed hard recently. For sure the last days absolutely didn’t go according to plan but we have to deal with it. 

"It's also part of life and especially part of cycling. We still have a very strong team and we still believe in the guys who are on the start line. 

"Hopefully Dylan will be ok for Flanders and Christophe will at least be ok for Roubaix but of course, this is not how we mapped it out when we were all sitting together in the winter and when we planned these particular few weeks of the Classics."

Laporte in particular proved himself to be a huge asset for the Dutch team in last year’s Classics winning both Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars. Van Baarle won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2023 and is also himself a former Paris-Roubaix winner. 

Despite being potentially two key allies down on Sunday, Niermann insisted that Van Aert was still in a good place and ready to challenge for victory.

He said: "He’s in a good place, he’s mentally in a good place and he’s feeling fresh and fit. With Wout, we are right in the place that we want to be and we’ll see if that’s enough.

"In the end if Van der Poel ends up being a lot stronger and rides away, then there’s not a lot you can do either with Wout or as a team. But we believe he [Van Aert] is in absolute top shape approaching these races now."

"We have a strong team and have shown that," Niermann added. "Jan Tratnik won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and we’ve got Matteo Jorgenson who won Paris-Nice and Tiesj Benoot who is always good in these races. 

"We also have a few youngsters like the Van Dijke brothers who have to come in now, at least for tomorrow. There are multiple riders who can still play a role for us in the final next to Wout van Aert in Flanders. 

"But yes, there is no secret that we would rather this was different and have the seven riders that we planned to go to Flanders with in December in top shape and not injured or sick."

As the Classics season rolls on, it has appeared that Lidl-Trek are rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Niermann piled praise onto the American team, who won Gent-Wevelgem last weekend through Mads Pedersen, and said he sees them having a major part to play in the weeks ahead.

"Trek did great in E3 and also, of course, in Gent-Wevelgem," he said. "It was really impressive and they will for sure be a team to look at. Maybe they will be next to us or even be above us as the strongest team.

"So we will see how the race on Sunday plays out,” he added. “A lot of times at the Tour of Flanders it’s the strongest guy that wins but, for sure, Lidl-Trek made a big impression on us.

"They’re a super strong team with a lot of guys in super top shape right now. Chapeau to them with how they played it out at Gent-Wevelgem, it was really nice to see."