Cycling star Wout van Aert injured himself in a mass fall in front of the upcoming Tour of Flanders (March 31) and Paris – Roubaix (April 7) monuments. The 29-year-old Belgian crashed with several other riders on Wednesday in the semi-classic Across Flanders about 68 kilometers from the finish in Waregem and had to give up. As his team Visma-Lease a Bike announced in the evening, van Aert broke his collarbone and several ribs.
27.03.2024 17.11
Online since today, 5:11 p.m. (update: 6:25 p.m.)
This means that the nine-time Tour de France stage winner will be missing from the upcoming one-day classics. “A broken collarbone and several rib fractures were diagnosed in the hospital,” his team wrote on X (Twitter). “The length of his break has not yet been determined. It is certain that he will miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris – Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.”
It was also over for three other professionals. There is no precise information regarding their injuries yet. In addition to van Aert, the Danish professional Mads Pedersen and the Eritrean Biniam Girmay were also involved in the crash. Van Aert, teammate of two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, is experiencing a bitter start to the season. Last Friday he also fell at the E3 Prize and later had to admit defeat to his long-term rival Mathieu van der Poel.
🚴🇧🇪 | The repeat of the terrible crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen. Wout van Aert seems to be the first to hit the asphalt and has now also dismounted… #DDV24
📺 You can watch the race on discovery+ pic.twitter.com/1lTp53B4AN
— Eurosport Netherlands (@Eurosport_NL) March 27, 2024
The fall also overshadowed the victory of van Aert’s teammate Matteo Jorgenson, who came from a six-man leading group with Jonas Abrahamsen (DEN), Stefan Küng (SUI), Tiesj Benoot (BEL), Dries de Bondt (BEL) and Joshua Tarling ( GBR) and gave team “Visma-Lease a Bike” their second big victory of the year to Paris – Nice.
