Sunweb-ProJob captains out with back injuries

by Nick Mulder at 3:32 PM EST

Sunweb-ProJob will have to leave its two captains at home for tomorrows fifth round of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee in Loenhout, Belgium since both Klaas Vantournout and Sven Vanthourenhout are still suffering from back injuries.

Klaas Vantournout still complains of an injury sustained several weeks ago, “I hurt my back during my crash in Igorre” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “In Kalmthout and Middelkerke I overused and strained several muscles in my back that I normally don’t use, but had to because of the icy conditions.

“In Diegem I could only start after taking some pain killers because I was hurting from just pre-riding the course. Even today I feel terrible. So I can’t do anything but rest, using my back is temporarily out of the question. Hopefully I will be back in Baal.”

Vantournout currently sits in sixth place with 61 points behind World Champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) and Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) who have 98 and 91 points respectively.

Teammate Sven Vanthourenhout sustained injuries to his back in Middelkerke after a hard crash that forced him out of the race. He had planned to race in Diegem yesterday but his trainer advised him not to start after leaving Saturday’s race in Zolder early due to the same back problems.

Vanthourenhout is further back in the overall standing of the GvA Trofee sitting in thirteenth place. His only success of the season was a win in Asteasu, Spain where he beat Nys in a sprint to the line.