The impact of the high-speed Vlaanderen collision left an immediate mark on Wout van Aert, his jersey torn to shreds, his back flared with road rash and multiple fractures causing great pain. It took me a beat or two longer to register the magnitude of the moment.
At that moment, Van Aert's body began to convulse as he sobbed. He didn't need an x-ray to tell him what his broken heart already knew. His 2024 Classic campaign ended not with victory at the Roubaix velodrome, but on a lonely road on the outskirts of Ronse, 67 kilometers from the finish line here at Dwars Door Vlaanderen.
On television, Van Aert's guttural howl can be heard even over the confused and excited chatter of the commentary team, deciding whether the suffering is due to the pain of the injury or the death of a dream. It was difficult. It was also hard not to think of Sean Kelly and the similarly pitiful moments at key moments in his career.
Comparisons with Kelly have accompanied Van Aert on some of his most illustrious outings, and it was an afternoon when nothing seemed beyond the range of the most dexterous rider in the peloton. Perhaps it was no surprise that there were similarities between them, even on Van Aert's saddest days.
The 1987 Tour de France was a sort of last dance for Kelly as a yellow jersey candidate. With Bernard Hinault retired and Greg Lemon sidelined, the Irishman departed Berlin as the closest contender to victory in one of the most open Tours in living memory. His challenge ended with him breaking his collarbone in a low-speed collision right near Blive on stage 12. He continued to fight for an hour before succumbing to the inevitable and alighting.
When Cass athletic director Christian Lemoux draped a long-sleeved jersey over Kelly's shoulders and led him toward the team car, he could no longer contain himself. The toughest man in cycling cried openly and unabashedly, and it seemed like the entire Tour caravan mourned with him.
The throbbing pain of a broken collarbone was more than Kelly could handle, and he'd been through it all. The pain of pulling the plug was different, exceeding even his famous stoicism.
Get the latest racing content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides delivered straight to your inbox!
So was Van Aert on Wednesday.
After being dragged to the side of the road, I was struck by the realization that my carefully calibrated approach to the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix had been in vain. His entire season was suddenly derailed. He is unlikely to recover in time for the Giro d'Italia and will have to reconsider his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
“We have never seen Wout van Aert cry after a setback. Never! This time, yes.” Het Nieuwsblad It was noted Thursday morning.
“Van Aert's tears were tears of pain and disappointment. The realization that all the sacrifices of the past months had been in vain hit Van Aert like a blow with a hammer.”
Van Aert had been on a shortened cyclocross program over the winter as part of Rondo Mission. He had spent weeks trapped at high altitude in the Parador Hotel in Tenerife. He had skipped Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo. For months, everything in his life existed around his March 31st.
And now it's gone.
dark edge
Van Aert's Visma Ries A Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson won the Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but there was a quiet celebration at the finish in Waregem.
Tiegi Venuto was fourth on the day, but when he arrived in the mixed zone his thoughts were more about his inadvertent part in Van Aert's crash than his important role in Jorgensson's victory.
“Wauth yelled at me to speed up and I complied,” Venuto said of the group crash as they approached the Canaryburg River. “But I think he touched my rear wheel when I stood up to accelerate. I actually feel really bad about it.”
Bunu's role in this incident was a cruel irony. He has done more than anyone else to prepare Van Aert for the scheduled prizefight with Mathieu van der Poel in Ronde and Roubaix, and has been involved in a three-week camp in Tenerife. I went with a friend and sparred with him on endless rides in the red scree. Mount Teide.
Cyclingnews witnessed the somber scene on the Visma-Lease A Bike team bus, where most reporters had gathered after the race. Plans to check in with various Rondo candidates in the mixed zone were put on hold. Retaining the front page: Van Aert's status was a story that would come to dominate the Flemish news cycle.
At that very moment, Van Aert was undergoing tests at the hospital, but the diagnosis seemed already obvious. Sports director Grisha Neeleman tried to keep the mood upbeat, even though she knew it was a losing battle.
“In any case, we will start Sunday with seven strong riders,” he said, but must have already known that they would be lining up without their strongest rider.
Members of the management team were ambushed by TV crews and reporters at various stations around the Visma-Lease A Bike bus. No one had accurate information about Van Aert's injury yet, but everyone already knew what the X-ray results would be. Long before the details of Van Aert's broken collarbone and ribs were announced, and it was confirmed that he would miss the Ronde, Paris-Roubaix and Amstel gold races, that howl on the side of the road said it all.
Merijn Zeeman couldn't help but think about the duality of this situation during her lecture.
“One moment you could see a horrible crash between Wout and the other boys, and the next moment the riders were crossing the finish line with their hands up,” he said.
“Cycling is a beautiful sport with a dark side.”
of destiny
Van Aert has won 46 races as a professional, including Milan-San Remo, Strade Bianche, Ghent-Wevelgem, E3 Saxo Classic (twice), Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels. It also includes an enviable series of classics such as Kuurne.
The races he most aspires to are the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but he has had an unfortunate relationship with these events.
“Rondo and Roubaix: They are starting to look a little doomed for Wout van Aert,” said the Thursday Morning Edition. Het Raaste Neuus put it.
Van Aert's only truly happy Rondo experience came in 2018, when he finished a promising 9th place in his debut race after transitioning from cyclocross to road.
A year later, he finished a disappointing 14th place. In 2020, he took second place in the two-up sprint, only to be overtaken at the end by his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel.
Van Aert finished a relatively subdued sixth place the following spring, but it was better than in 2022, when a COVID-19 diagnosis ruled him out completely. Twelve months ago, he couldn't live with Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar and had to settle for fourth place.
His track record at Paris-Roubaix was equally frustrating. After finishing 13th in 2018, his stellar form was reduced to 22nd place a year later due to a series of mechanical incidents. At the 2021 tournament, which was postponed due to the pandemic, he finished a tired seventh place, but had to settle for second place the following April. Last year, a late puncture spoiled Van Aert's challenge and he sank to third place.
And this time, this misfortune.
Van Aert will be 30 years old by the time he starts dreaming again. In the generation before him, that was the age when a classic hunter might have felt he had reached his prime. Nowadays, the images are not very clear.
“You're young enough to win Ronde and Roubaix.” Het Raaste Neuus I got it. “But on the other hand, in modern cycling, the winners are getting younger and younger. It doesn't get any easier.”
Meanwhile, van der Poel's path to a third victory, equaling his record at the Tour of Flanders, may have been a little easier.
On the evidence from last Friday's E3 Harelbeke, van Aert was the only rider who could hope to occupy the same rare space as the world champion at Kwaremont and Patterberg on Sunday.
Van der Poel's status as the favorite to win the title is almost overwhelming at the moment. Especially since Riddle Trek also lost Jasper Stuyven, who suffered a broken collarbone in the same accident as Van Aert. Steiffen's team-mate Mads Pedersen, who enjoyed a fantastic win with Gent-Wevelgem, also fell in the accident, but the Dane's availability on Sunday does not appear to be in doubt.
“Even if Mathieu van der Poel were to win the Tour de Flanders on Sunday, it would forever be an edition that was almost decided on the descent to the Canariesberg four days ago,” he said. Het Nieuwsblad.
In fact, that assessment may prove to be quite far-fetched. The history of cycling is filled with sliding door moments like this, and we forget all about them much sooner than we think.
Tom Boonen's 2012 Tour of Flanders victory was not marred by the fact that Fabian Cancellara crashed with 50km to go. Along with Peter Sagan's 2016 Rondo victory, there is no asterisk in the record books to highlight how Greg van Aervermaet, who was in good form, was injured in a crash.
When Van Aert clipped the handlebars of his Benue on Wednesday afternoon, the axis of the cycling world changed, but the race continued to go as fast and furious as before. That's always the case.
There will also be a race on Sunday, giving you the opportunity to compete against each other. The beauty and brutality of the classics is that they wait for no one. Van Aert knows this better than anyone.
