His winter seemed to go completely smoothly, until an ice spot on the Zilvermeercross course in Mol decided otherwise. Wout van Aert fell and broke a bone in his ankle. Bart Wellens also witnessed the unfortunate moment.
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Wrong (re)action Van Aert
Wellens himself was not present in Mol, but was of course an attentive viewer from his seat: “In Mol, unfortunately, there was also the crash of Wout van Aert. I was watching the race at home on television and saw how Felipe Orts crashed into the ground a lap earlier in that corner,” Wellens begins his story.
The former world champion apparently already had a premonition and warned his colleague from Kempen: “I said that Van Aert really had to be careful in that corner, but a few minutes later that was already the case: because Van der Poel moved away for a moment, Van Aert shifted and hit his brakes.”
A wrong action, Wellens concludes at Het Nieuwsblad, and also the reason why Van Aert fell to the ground. After all, when braking, the tires are squeezed, which increases the risk of a slide. “You end up crashing in such a slippery bend.”
“A stupid fall that should not have happened, but one with very serious consequences. Not only for a possible duel with Van der Poel at the World Cup, but especially for the Belgian Championships next Sunday in Beringen,” Wellens concludes.
🚴🇧🇪 | Oh no, Van Aert crash… Van der Poel of course continues, but for the first time Wout van Aert has to give up. He’s clearly in pain… 💥💥 #cyclocross
📺 You can watch Cross on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/P7r7mIqihv
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) January 2, 2026
Positive forecasts
In the meantime, all kinds of forecasts are emerging about Van Aert’s recovery, with Visma-Lease a Bike and the rider himself reportedly maintaining an optimistic forecast. It would be a maximum of four weeks, although it is suspected that Van Aert could get back on his bike sooner than that. In this way, there seem to be minimal consequences for his spring on the road.
