Martin Velits replaces Stijn Vandenbergh at the Tour de France 2012
Stijn Vandenbergh of Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep has been replaced by Martin Velits for the Tour de France because of his health constraints.
Martin Velits will accompany his brother Peter Velits at the most prestigious cycling race of the year.
“I had this problem in the last ten days and it was almost solved," Vandenbergh said.
"But Sunday's national championship exacerbated the problem”.
“Together with the medical staff of the team, we decided not to take risks. This is why I will not participate in the Tour”.
Stijn is having a tough season and has mostly been surrounded by injuries; he struggled at the Criterium du Dauphine and decided to call his name off the final Tour squad.
The 28-year-old’s dipping form was evident during the 253.3 kilometre Belgian Road Championships as he failed to mark an impression.
The Belgian finished almost 16 seconds behind his team-mate and the race leader Tom Boonen and had to settle for the 38th position.
Boonen continued his tremendous form and finished the race in a quickest time of 5 hours, 59 minutes and 7 seconds and occupied the top podium spot.
Kristof Goddaert of Team AG2R La Mondiale, Sven Vandousselaere of Team Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator and Jan Bakelants of Team Radioshack-Nissan secured the second and the third positions respectively.
The Belgian marked his professional debut with Team Unibet.com in 2007 and joined Team Ag2r-La Mondiale for 2008 season.
He represented Team Katusha through 2009-11 seasons and penned a deal with Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the 2012 seasons.
Stijn rode the previous two editions of the Tour de France and was determined to mark his third appearance at the race.
“I am really sad, but I think there are no other solutions,” he briefed.
“I have to think also about the team. I don't want to start, not knowing how I would be during the race”.
“The Tour is a demanding race, and you need nine riders completely ready and healthy for the fight”.
Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep squad for the Tour de France include, Sylvain Chavanel, Kevin De Weert, Dries Devenyns, Bert Grabsch, Levi Leipheimer, Tony Martin, Jerome Pineau, Martin Velits and Peter Velits.
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