Wout van Aert set to leave hospital in Pau four days after Tour de France crash

Wout van Aert is due to leave hospital four days after suffering a deep wound to his leg at the Tour de France.

The Jumbo-Visma rider fell in the final two kilometres of the stage 13 time trial after clipping the barrier on a turn, and suffering a serious cut to his leg.

After being taken to hospital in Pau and undergoing surgery, Van Aert will be transferred on Tuesday (July 23), according to his team.

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A statement from the Dutch outfit said: “In cooperation with the team and the management of Van Aert, he will be transferred to a hospital that cooperates with Jumbo-Visma.

“Last Friday, Van Aert underwent a successful operation during which his wound was cleaned and stitched. The wound has stabilised and everything is going as expected.

“The priority is to prevent infections. The precise impact of the crash on the muscles will have to be determined later.”

The 24-year-old, a triple cyclocross world champion and now Tour de France stage winner, will be forced to spend two months off the bike in order to recover from the crash.

But Van Aert hopes to be able to return to training sooner and plans to return in time for the cyclocross season this winter.

The Belgian was riding his first Tour de France in his debut season with a WorldTour outfit and was a revelation in the race, winning a bunch sprint in Albi on stage 10, beating Elia Viviani to the line.

He had been targeting the hilly stage 13 time trial in Pau and was fighting for the provisional lead against his compatriot Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) out on the road.

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Van Aert’s Tour was cut short when he clipped the barrier on a right hand turn in the final, falling awkwardly and suffering a huge cut to his leg.

He was treated at the side of the road and was forced to abandon the race, a huge disappointment for the star who had been hoping to make it to Paris.