Cycling, Van Aert has Covid and will not race the Tour of Flanders on Sunday

The Tour of Flanders loses its star: Wout Van Aert, the Belgian national champion, symbol of cycling in this nation and great protagonist of the first part of the season, has to miss the race he cares about the most. The 27-year-old Flemish, who in 2020 was beaten by his arch-rival Van der Poel in the sprint, had a positive test at Covid after he woke up with pain in his throat on Thursday morning. “I made two molecular swabs and they both gave the same result: positive – says Van Aert in a message on Instagram -. Fortunately, the symptoms are weak and I hope to get back to training soon. It is a mystery where I got the infection, I have really paid a lot of attention in the last two years, before and during the races. Obviously, I can’t control everything. At this point I think about recovering. Thank you all for your support, I was delighted. I hope to see you soon”. In the Jumbo-Visma he will be replaced by Dutch Mick Van Dijke.