Cyclist
Wout van Aert to miss Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix with multiple fractures
The men’s Tour of Flanders on Sunday 31st March will miss one of the favourites in Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) after a broken collarbone and multiple broken ribs sustained in a crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today.
On a seemingly innocuous stretch of road with just under 70km remaining of the 188.6km race, a large crash took out riders including Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty). It appeared to be caused by wind and all riders were conscious after falling.
Van Aert was seen lying on the ground with visible road rash and a torn skinsuit, abandoning the race. Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed ‘a broken collarbone and multiple broken ribs’ in a statement posted to Twitter/X. Teammate Matteo Jorgenson would go on to win Dwars door Vlaanderen with a late solo attack.
Update Wout van Aert:
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 27, 2024
Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today.
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…
It’s a huge blow for Van Aert, who had adjusted his training programme this season to target victory at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix races, which are missing from his stacked palmarès, favouring a three-week altitude training camp on Mount Teide over participating in Strade Bianche or Milan-San Remo. He lined up at E3 Saxo Bank Classic this week and crashed on the Paterberg but came back strong to finish third.
Van Aert will now definitely miss both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, as well as Amstel Gold on 14th April.
Alongside Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek has been the team to watch during Classics races, Pedersen, Stuyven and Jonathan Milan all impressing. Pedersen was able to remount and continue but key teammates in Stuyven and Alex Kirsch were forced to abandon. HLN Sport reports that Stuyven has a broken collarbone following the crash.
Intermarché-Wanty said 2022 Gent-Wevelgem winner Girmay and teammate Laurenz Rex, the latter hitting the ground in a separate crash, did not sustain any fractures.
The Tour of Flanders is on Sunday 31st March. Read our guide for more information.
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