The mournful cries of Wout Van Aert after the Dwars door Vlaanderen crash were accompanied by the brutal vision of a number of riders and bikes scattered across the road, with ripped jerseys and the painful consequences of hitting the road at hard at speed.
Some were taken to hospital for treatment, others were forced to quit the race and some were able to ride on but the injury updates flowed through in the hours after the race and into Thursday as Van Aert, Stuyven and Kirsch underwent surgery and riders awoke in pain.
The Dwars door Vlaanderen crash meant 'the cycling world shifted on its axis' as Barry Ryan wrote in his reflection on Van Aert's ill-fated relationship with the Classics and what it means for the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the sport.
