Double world champion Vincent Luis has revealed that he will not be racing at WTCS Yokohama next week.
After originally being entered as part of a four man French team, Luis has been waylaid by a hip niggle. As he noted in an Instagram post, “a sore hip for the last couple days eventually ended up with a small medical intervention. I should be up and running for Cagliari in 3 weeks time!”
While the extent of the medical intervention has not yet been made clear, the timing is inopportune to say the least.
Luis opened his season with a 4th place finish at WTCS Abu Dhabi. With that coming after his dramatic win at WTCS Bermuda back in November, he appeared to have returned to his top form.
However his absence from Yokohama could prove costly as he will require a top-5 finish either there or at WTCS Cagliari to earn selection for France’s team at the Paris Olympic Test Event. With his absence from Yokohama being injury-enforced, Luis faces a short race to return to full health in time for Cagliari.
With Luis out, Leo Bergere, Dorian Coninx and Tom Richard will be representing France in Japan.
Another athlete to withdraw from Yokohama is Jawad Abdelmoula.
While Luis and Abdelmoula are no longer racing, two Australians, Luke Willian and Callum Mcclusky, have been added to the start list. Both will come into the race in form with Willian having recently won the Oceania Cup in Busselton.
Mcclusky also narrowly missed the fastest run split at the New Plymouth World Cup. After enjoying a sterling spell of racing in the Oceania summer, Yokohama could play to his strengths.
