{"id":195304,"date":"2024-03-28T09:59:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=195304"},"modified":"2024-03-28T09:59:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:59:38","slug":"crash-ends-van-aerts-spring-ambitions-and-perhaps-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/03\/28\/crash-ends-van-aerts-spring-ambitions-and-perhaps-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Crash Ends Van Aert\u2019s Spring Ambitions \u2013 And Perhaps More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wout van Aert\u2019s Classics season ended in a split second on the road from Roeselare to Waregem in Wednesday\u2019s Dwars door Vlaanderen, when the Visma\u2013Lease a Bike rider was involved in a high-speed crash and suffered a broken collarbone and fractured ribs. The crash occurred with about 70km to ride in the race, which is a warmup for Sunday\u2019s prestigious Tour of Flanders. As a result of the accident, van Aert will miss that race, which had been his main goal this spring, as well as next week\u2019s Paris-Roubaix.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is unclear how long his recovery will take,\u201d Visma said in a statement<\/a>, \u201cbut he will miss at least the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.\u201d His planned start at the Giro d\u2019Italia, which begins on May 4, also seems doubtful. Last year, Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates) broke his wrist in the Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge and did not race again for a full two months. If van Aert does recover from his injuries in time, he will still have missed considerable training time, making a Giro start highly unlikely.<\/p>\n

The crash occurred as the leading group of riders approached speeds of up to 60kph. According to fellow Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Lidle-Trek), who also broke his collarbone in the crash, van Aert provoked the accident by riding into the rear wheel of another rider. Speaking to HLN<\/a> from the ambulance that took him to hospital, Stuyven said, \u201cI saw it happening in front of me, but I couldn’t move. Wout tapped the rear wheel of a teammate, was thrown off balance and collided with my teammate Alex Kirsch. The two fell, and since I was just behind Kirsch, there was no way to avoid it. I went over my bike with my head and took a serious tumble, ending up on my left shoulder.”<\/p>\n

Van Aert was one of the favorites for the race, as was Stuyven. Two other riders with chances for the victory, Biniam Girmay (Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), were also involved in the crash and dropped out of the race. However, they suffered no serious injuries. The race was won by van Aert\u2019s promising young teammate, Matteo Jorgenson. The 24-year-old American was part of a group of five riders that had the race to themselves with 10km to go. Jorgenson outsmarted them all by becoming the last rider to make a break for the finish, and he rode the final 8km alone, crossing the finish line 29 seconds ahead of Jonas Abrahamsen (UnoX Mobility) and Stefan K\u00fcng (Groupama-FDJ).<\/p>\n

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Just a very deep bow to our Wout, who has made all kinds of sacrifices over the past few months to be at his best in the spring classics. The shape was there, but unfortunately luck was not on his side. \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83e\ude79<\/p>\n

Cycling is a wonderful sport. But at the same time, top sport is also so\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Ci9yaCfJ7q<\/a><\/p>\n

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n