Belgian cyclist Wout van Aert on Wednesday broke his collarbone and several ribs in a high-speed mass fall during the Around Flanders one-day race.
The 29-year-old star will now miss Sunday’s blockbuster Tour of Flanders and next week’s Paris-Roubaix, but could be back for the Giro d’Italia in May, where he will be hoping for several stage wins.
Wednesday’s crash happened with the lead group riding at speeds approaching 60kph on a broad highway. Van Aert fell on the uneven surface before being run over by another cyclist.
Photo: AFP
Clearly in agony, with his riding outfit almost entirely shredded and with abrasion marks covering his back, he was left screaming in pain as he was taken into an ambulance.
“Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today,” Team Visma said in a statement. “A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital. It is unclear how long his recovery will take. He will definitely miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.”
The Amstel Gold Race takes place on April 14, while the Giro d’Italia, where Van Aert suggested last week that he would target four of five stage wins, begins on May 4.
Aware that the clock is ticking down on his career, Van Aert decided to target the Monuments races, starting with Paris-Roubaix on the old mining roads of northern France, Sunday’s epic Tour of Flanders, the Giro and the Olympics in Paris in July.
“Always staying in the comfort zone is the easiest thing, but the reality is that I haven’t won the Ronde [Flanders] and Roubaix yet,” he said when departing on a three-week altitude training camp in Tenerife, Spain, earlier this month.
“Skipping the Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo was a difficult decision,” he said of the two races he has already won.
Wednesday’s race was won by Van Aert’s US teammate Matteo Jorgenson, who added Around Flanders to his Paris-Nice victory.
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