Last night Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) last night fell ill and he now has to skip the cyclo-cross races on the Koppenberg and In Zonhoven this weekend. "I'm too weak to race," he tells Sporza.

After two weeks without cyclo-cross races in any of the major series, most riders are looking forward to this weekend. Everybody wants to be ready for Saturday's Koppenbergcross (in the Bpost Bank Trofee series) and Sunday's Superprestige race in Zonhoven.

Bart Wellens was also ready but a sudden illness has made him change his plans. "From one moment to the other, I fell ill. It went very fast and for hours I was either in my bed or on the toilet. I've never experienced this before," he tells Sporza.

"I feel completely empty and am far too weak to race. I think it  is a pity, because I was really looking forward to the upcoming races. Yesterday I  trained well and opened up the legs perfectly."

Team Doctor Peter T'Seyen knows that Wellens is not alone: ​​"There is a real stomach flu epidemic in Kempen. And it is very acute. Normally it is all over after two or three days. I think Bart will be able to train again on Tuesday."