German road cycling champion Maximilian Schachmann will have to miss the Ardennes Classics starting on Sunday. After suffering from coronavirus at the end of January and a serious infection in March, the 28-year-old is unable to train adequately to return to racing.
His team Bora-hansgrohe therefore announced Schachmann's withdrawal from Sunday's Amstel Gold Race as well as the Flèche Wallonne (20 April) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (24 April). In top form, Schachmann would be a contender for victory in the races, having already finished third in both the Amstel (2021) and Liège (2019).
"Of course it's all very frustrating and completely different to what I had imagined for the spring. But you have to face facts and it just doesn't make sense to race at the moment," said Schachmann. "After my coronavirus infection in January, I was back at a good level before Paris-Nice, then came the next setback. I've been back in regular training mode for a few days now. It would be nice if I could get back into racing soon."
For Bora-hansgrohe, this is the next piece of bad news in a spring characterised by many infections among the pros. Captain Nils Politt and Co. have already failed to deliver the expected results in the cobblestone races, as they have missed many kilometres of training and racing due to illness. Politt is now hoping to be in good shape for Paris-Roubaix in a fortnight' time.
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