Visma-Lease a Bike lose Jan Tratnik for the Tour of Flanders

Visma-Lease a Bike’s already depleted squad for the Tour of Flanders has been dealt a further blow as Jan Tratnik has failed to recover in time to make the team's seven-man roster.

The Slovenian crashed during Gent-Wevelgem and has been struggling with the effects of the crash in the lead up to the Belgian Monument. He joins Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte in the team’s list of absentees for Sunday’s race.

There is some good news for Visma-Lease a Bike as Dylan van Baarle has recovered in time to take to the start line, having missed Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday due to illness.

“Not much to say. No Ronde van Vlaanderen for me,” Tratnik said in a social media post. “Crash did too much damage to my body. Time for mental rest and rehab. See you on Giro d’Italia in best version. Good luck to Visma-Lease a Bike on Sunday! And to Wout van Aert, I know you will come back stronger than ever.”

Tratnik had made a strong start to the Classics season, winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, before a crash at Gent-Wevelgem derailed his progress. There was hope that he could recover from his injuries in time for the Tour of Flanders but his midweek outing at Dwars door Vlaanderen to test things out was quickly curtailed, as he was forced to retire after only a couple hours of racing.

Dwars door Vlaanderen proved to be a bittersweet race for his Vimsa-Lease a Bike team who also lost Van Aert after he crashed heavily with 67km to go after touching the rear wheel of teammate Tiesj Benoot. He was subsequently diagnosed with multiple fractured ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken sternum, and ruled out for the remainder of the Classics season, including the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Facing a period of recovery, the Belgian’s participation at the Giro d’Italia is also in doubt.

Read more: Wout van Aert out of Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix with broken collarbone and ribs

Those withdrawals didn’t stop Matteo Jorgenson from winning the race for the team in yellow and the American will now be one of the riders tasked with filling the void left by Van Aert at De Ronde on Sunday. While he also won’t be able to call upon Tratnnik, Jorgenson will be joined at the Belgian Monument by a strong team, including Dylan van Baarle, Tiesj Benoot, Edoardo Affini, Mick van Dijke, Per Strand Hagenes and Tim van Dijke.

Laporte’s name is another notable absentee from the line-up. The Frenchman was ruled out of the race earlier this week due to stomach flu and a saddle sore.

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