Wout Van Aert will miss the World Championships in Zurich on 29 October, where he was one of the favourites. He was also due to compete in the European Championships in his home country of Belgium next week on 15 September, but will not be able to start either.

It has been decided that he will not compete in 2024 in order to fully recover from his injuries, after undergoing the necessary medical tests and discussing his condition with doctors. Van Aert suffered a serious crash on the descent of La Collada de Llomena in stage 16 of the Vuelta a España last Tuesday. The Belgian crashed into rocks at around 50km/h and was forced to abandon the stage. He suffered a serious blow to his right knee.

His team, Visma-Lease a Bike, said on Thursday that the Belgian had to stop. "He needs time to recover. This is undoubtedly a major setback for the rider, who was in excellent form after winning three stages of the Vuelta and leading both the points and mountains classifications.

Van Aert's season has been impressive. Prior to the Vuelta a España, he won a bronze medal in the Olympic time trial at the end of July, finishing behind Filippo Ganna and champion Remco Evenepoel and beating other specialists in the discipline. He also played a crucial role in helping his teammate Evenepoel to victory in the road race, assisting the Belgian star at a crucial moment.

This year Van Aert has had his fair share of bad luck and has been involved in at least ten crashes. The worst came in late March during the one-day Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he broke his collarbone, sternum and several ribs, in addition to a bruised lung. The crash prevented him from competing in two major spring targets, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, races he has always prepared for but has yet to add to his palmarès.

The Visma-Lease a Bike team, which was the most dominant team in 2023, winning all three grand tours - the Giro d'Italia with Primoz Roglic, the Tour de France with Jonas Vingegaard and the Vuelta with Sepp Kuss - has suffered a number of setbacks this season. In addition to Van Aert's crashes, their top rider,Vingegaard, suffered a serious crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April.

This has affected his preparation for the Tour de France, where he finished second behind Tadej Pogacar. In 2024, they have yet to win any of the major tours and are currently trailing in the Vuelta a España.

Now, with Van Aert out of the picture, the Zurich World Championships will be without one of its favourites. Riders such as Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pogacar will once again be among the contenders at the end of the season in the battle for the rainbow jersey. Van der Poel is currently wearing the jersey following his victory in Glasgow. The Dutchman, who missed out on an Olympic medal, is now targeting this championship as one of the most important events on the calendar.