Tiesj Benoot made the move to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team from Team Visma–Lease a Bike with a big focus on the Classics. But, like so many best-laid plans in the sport, things have gone south for him.
According to the French team, during his winter preparation, Benoot experienced back pain that messed up his training schedule.
After a consultation and diagnosis by the team’s doctors, a disc herniation was identified, which required surgery.
Medical update
“Tiesj Benoot underwent successful surgery for a lumbar disc herniation this week. He is now beginning his recovery phase. His return to competition will be depending on his progress,” Jacky Maillot, the head team doctor, said. (Side note, Jacky Maillot, great last name. Former pro Marco Velo would approve.)
Benoot is obviously quite bummed, but hoping there is lots of season left.
“For me, it is a real disappointment to miss the Classics for the first time in my career,” he said. “I will be the biggest supporter of my teammates in front of the TV. I am really motivated to come back at a higher level than ever before. A big thanks to the team for the confidence in these difficult times.”
Benoot had a solid 2025 on his former Dutch team. Third at Dwars door Vlaanderen, eighth at the Amstel Gold Race and fourth at Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa were some of the year’s highlights. He also made the trip to the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. There he took seventh in Montréal and 16th in Québec.
Meanwhile, other cyclists like Jonas Vingegaard have had to adjust their season debuts—the Dane was sick and also crashed in training. It’s not nearly as bad as 2024, when a smattering of brutal crashes took out all kinds of big names like Remco Evenepoel, Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič. The worst off was Vingegaard, who entered the Tour de France with lots of question marks. He would go on to finish second after no prep races, though.