Tour of Flanders, forfeit of Alberto Bettiol

Alberto Bettiol will not participate in the Tour of Flanders. The defending Italian champion and latest Italian winner in 2019 had to drop out of next Sunday’s race due to a lung infection.

His team, l’Astana, announced it. “Alberto was unable to finish Dwars porta Vlaanderen yesterday, he was diagnosed with a lung infection from Chlamydophila pneumoniae”.

“It is devastating to know that I will not be able to race in the Tour of Flanders this Sunday– Bettiol’s words in Astana–s press release; This race means a lot to me and was one of the big goals of the season, especially since I was going to run it with the tricolor jersey of Italian champion.”

“I have felt strangely weak the last few days and the medical examination confirmed this infection. All I can do is accept this and focus my attention on the next goals”.