‘For now, he’s not in the best place’ – Wout van Aert’s Worlds prospects unclear after Vuelta a España crash

Outside the Visma-Lease a Bike bus in Arnuero on Wednesday afternoon, directeur sportif Grischa Niermann was putting words on the latest setback in Wout van Aert‘s star-crossed 2024 season. “‘The Tour waits for no one’ is the saying, but apparently neither does the Vuelta,” Niermann said resignedly.

And neither, of course, does the UCI Road World Championships. Van Aert crashed out of the Vuelta a España on the descent of Collada Llomena Tuesday afternoon, but even before he had been taken to hospital for assessment, thoughts had turned to whether he could possibly recover in time for the Worlds road race in Zurich on September 29.