June 17 (Reuters) - Belgium's Wout van Aert will miss this year's Tour de France because of an elbow injury sustained at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, his Visma-Lease a Bike team said on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, who won Paris-Roubaix in April, would have been a key member of the Dutch team's Tour squad and a top contender for stage victories.
Van Aert crashed in training at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and was forced to abandon the race after his elbow wound became infected, requiring an overnight stay in hospital.
"Wout is one of the most important riders in our team and we would obviously have loved to have him at the start of the Tour," race coach Marc Reef said in a statement.
"In recent days we have explored all options, but ultimately his health comes first."
Van Aert has 10 Tour de France stage wins from his seven appearances in the race and was the points jersey winner in 2022.
"This is of course a big disappointment. The Tour de France is one of my main goals every year. Unfortunately, a crash during training has put a spanner in the works," he said.
The team said his replacement would be announced next week.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard will lead the Visma challenge for the yellow jersey in the race that begins in Barcelona next month, having triumphed in the Giro d'Italia.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Chopra)
