Jai Hindley and Benoît Cosnefroy have both been ruled out of Flèche Wallonne due to illness.
Bora-Hansgrohe reported on Wednesday morning that Hindley was suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection and thus unable to participate in Flèche. It is not yet clear if the Australian will be fit to race Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
Hindley placed 12th at Amstel Gold Race last week and the Ardennes Classics marked his final outings of the Spring. The 2022 Giro d’Italia winner is set to skip the corsa rosa this year in favour of making his Tour de France debut.
Cosnefroy, who warmed up for the Ardennes with third place at Brabantse Pijl last week, had already been suffering from illness ahead of Amstel Gold Race, where he finished 21st. The Frenchman indicated on Tuesday that his participation in Flèche Wallonne was uncertain due to bronchitis.
“I wasn't very well already on Sunday, but Amstel Gold Race didn't help matters,” Cosnefroy said, accordingly to L’Équipe. “Today [Tuesday], things are even worse than yesterday. I'll probably be at the team presentation, but I don't know what I'll do during the race. I'm far from good.”
On Wednesday morning, Cosnefroy’s AG2R Citroën team announced that he was not fit to race Flèche Wallonne but said that he was still in line to participate at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
“His state of health has improved in these last hours, but it doesn’t allow him to race in such a demanding event,” team doctor Serge Niamke said, according to L’Équipe.
