Kruijswijk has a message for Van Aert after Tour de France heartbreak: 'Such a big impact on his condition'

The reaction to Wout van Aert’s withdrawal from the Tour de France was one of deep disappointment at Visma | Lease a Bike. The Belgian will miss the biggest race of the year because of an infection in his elbow. IDL Pro Cycling spoke to Steven Kruijswijk at the Tour of Switzerland.

Kruijswijk was seen with a race number on his back for the first time in well over a month, and the 39-year-old Dutchman was clearly pleased with that. “I feel good. I haven’t had any races for a while, but I’ve been able to train well at home.”

It was clear that Kruijswijk had not received any message on Wednesday morning telling him he might be Van Aert’s replacement for the Tour de France in July. “If possible, I’ll watch the Tour, but when the kids are on holiday, you usually have plenty to do,” he said about how he will spend the summer.

“I’ll certainly keep an eye on it, and I’ll have the best possible preparation for the Vuelta a España myself,” he added. His return in the Tour of Switzerland and the long training block after the Tour of Romandie in May were also “with the Vuelta in mind.”

Kruijswijk had partly heard how Van Aert’s situation became more serious than planned. “It wasn’t for nothing that they decided this, and that he disappeared from the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. That did show it was more serious than they may have expected.”

“It has such a big impact on his condition that he won’t be ready for the Tour in time. That’s a shame, especially for him,” said Kruijswijk, who sees no reason for Visma | Lease a Bike to dwell on it for too long. “With the spring Wout rode, you can only be very satisfied.”

“That the Tour falls away once this year; unfortunate, but shit happens. As a team, you can’t really do anything about it. I was looking at my own career recently too, and the longer it gets, the more time there is to deal with setbacks. You shouldn’t weigh it up too much and just look ahead again.”

Kruijswijk has had more than his share of setbacks in his career, just like Van Aert. And so the advice followed: “For Wout it will probably be alright, but it is just a bit too close to the Tour now.”