Report: Wout van Aert to race Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Wout van Aert is still on the fence about a possible late-hour decision to race Paris-Roubaix, but the Belgian star is adding Liège-Bastogne-Liège to his racing calendar.

That’s according to a report in Het Laatste Nieuws, which reported that Van Aert will race the Belgian monument for the first time on April 24. There was no immediate confirmation from team officials.

Van Aert is recovering from a COVID-19 infection, and was forced to skip the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race, two of his major goals in 2022.

Jumbo-Visma officials are still debating about whether or not van Aert will race Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

Van Aert is currently training and riding in Spain, and reportedly wants to race in the “Hell of the North” this weekend. Team officials and medical staffers are mulling over the decision.

After missing some of the key races on his spring agenda, van Aert will add Liège-Bastogne-Liège to his calendar. He’s never raced the Belgian monument before, but the new course design finishing in downtown Liège will favor him more so than the former uphill kicker into Ans.

Primož Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Tiesj Benoot are also slated to race in Liège.

Update on Milan Vader

The team also published an update on Milan Vader, who crashed heavily in stage 5 at Itzulia Basque Country.

Officials said Vader remains in a Spanish hospital, and described his health situation as “stable.”

We want to thank everybody for their thoughts and support for Milan Vader and his family. Milan is still in the university medical hospital in Bilbao for his recovery. There he receives good medical care. His health situation is stable. If relevant, a further update will follow. pic.twitter.com/M55Knhb0Uk

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) April 13, 2022