Wout Poels won't defend Liege-Bastogne-Liege title

Apr 07 2017 08:59 pm CET

Photo of Wout Poels by Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com

Wout Poels won't be starting in the Ardennes Classics. The Team Sky rider hasn't been able to recover on time from a knee injury that was diagnosed earlier in the season.The Dutch rider started suffering from knee pain during the Ruta del Sol, which forced him to stay out of Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. Even though he is back to training, it is unknown when he can be back in competition."Wout is currently back completely to training. It is still uncertain when he can be back racing," said a message on the rider's official website. "The Sky rider is not ready to ride la Fleche Wallonne, the Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which he won last year."This setback in Poels' year comes after a successful season in which he not only won the monument, but also got the overall win in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and stage victories in the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Britain.