Wout Van Aert will miss Sunday's Tour of Flanders, his Jumbo-Visma team announced in a video message posted Friday. The Belgian athlete tested positive for COVID-19.

The news follows Jumbo-Visma's announcement on Thursday that Van Aert, a strong contender for the race, will miss the team's reconnaissance of the Tour de Flanders course due to an unspecified illness and is "unlikely" to line up in the Ronde.

"Hello everyone. It's been a hectic couple of days. I can announce that I will not be available for the start of the Tour de Flanders this Sunday," Van Aert said.

"Yesterday morning I woke up in pain, two simple tests showed I tested positive for COVID-19, two PCR tests confirmed I was positive, and a second PCR test showed I had a positive result for COVID-19.

"The good news is that I only have mild symptoms, a sore throat and a mild cold. It gives me more hope that I will recover soon and be able to return to work."

VanArt added that he does not know where he contracted the virus, as everyone in the propeloton does, because he has made so many efforts to avoid it.

"It is a mystery where I picked up this infection that I have made so many efforts to avoid over the past two years, especially in the last few weeks and months. Of course, I have been infected before, during, and after races, as I was last weekend. Obviously I have no control over it. It gets me at the worst possible time."

"I will focus on further recovery over the next few days before thinking again about the future. On Sunday, I will be the biggest fan of my teammates in 'De Hogemis'.

"Thanks for all the great messages of support over the last few days. I really enjoy reading your messages of support. That's why I thought it was important to hear from me. Hope to see you again soon."

Team director Arthur Van Dongen confirmed Van Aert's absence, stating that the 27-year-old was not seriously ill but still would not be able to race.

"Tests have confirmed that Wout is unwell. 'It's not a major illness, but he's not competitive enough to compete in the Tour de Flanders. He must now rest.

"It is unfortunate for Wout, but also for Belgium and for the team. Wout is a great guy and will come back stronger than ever. We will talk with the team, make a new plan and discuss how we can win the ronde with the new team structure."

"We have a lot of work to do,"

"We have a lot of work to do.

Grischa Niermann, DS of the same team, said on Thursday that Van Aert, who has won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic so far this Classic season, was not in perfect physical condition, but at that point no further details about Van Aert's Van Aert did not give any further details about his condition at that time.

In Van Aert's absence, the team will look to Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot for leadership. Laporte was runner-up in the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Ghent-Wevelgem, while Benoot was runner-up in the Dwar de Hlaanderen.

"This situation is difficult, not knowing if he will participate or not," Laporte said at the team's press conference on Friday. In any case, we will do everything we can with the team on Sunday."

"We are going to try to get him back to the team as soon as possible," he said.

"It is difficult for riders like Teasey and myself to win without Wout. He contributes a lot to the team, but we can still have a good race, Tiesj already proved that at Dwars Door Vlaanderen"

.

Benoot said he is confident in his "strong team" and that all the competitors running on Sunday (neo-pro Mick van Dijk will replace van Aert) are eager for the challenge.

"The atmosphere has been great the last few weeks. The atmosphere has been great the last few weeks. Then came this news. But we're all still very motivated. We've been looking forward to this race for a long time. This situation is out of our control, so now we have to let it go quickly."

Van Aert joins the list of big-name drivers who will miss Sunday's race. Peter Sagan (Total Energies), Quinn Simmons (Trek Segafredo), and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education Easy Post) had already withdrawn from the race due to illness.

On Friday, Israel Premier Tech announced the team's withdrawal from the race following two COVID-19 tests and numerous illnesses and injuries within the team. This decision also means that Sepp Vanmarcke will also miss the race.