Christophe Laporte, one of the main assets of “Visma-Lease a bike” (formerly Jumbo-Visma) in the classics, is withdrawn on Wednesday for “Across Flanders”, of which he is the title holder.
It is also the Tour of Flanders which will take place on Sunday March 31, its cycling team announced this Monday.
Laporte, 31, has “insufficiently recovered from a stomach flu and pain in the saddle”, indicated the Dutch team on its social networks.
Unfortunately Christophe Laporte will not start Wednesday and Sunday in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
He is not sufficiently recovered from a stomach flu and a saddle sore.
—Team Visma |
Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 25, 2024
The Frenchman was forced to retire in mid-March during Milan-San Remo, and he was absent on Friday at the start of the E3 Grand Prix then on Sunday during Ghent-Wevelgem, where he was also the defending champion.
It nevertheless remains one of the best chances of French victory for the rest of the season.
The Belgian leader in Visma-lease a bike, Wout Van Aert, will therefore have to do without his luxury teammate to try to win the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, the second Monument of the year after Milan-San Remo.