Mathieu van der Poel's chances of winning a third Tour of Flanders undoubtedly increased with the devastating crash of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) in Dwars door Vlaanderen this week. But the Dutchman expressed his sympathy both for his Belgian rival and for Lidl-Trek, who lost Jasper Stuyven to a broken collarbone.
"[The crash] is particularly unfortunate for the Tour of Flanders, but even more for Wout and Jasper. You live for months towards those important two races and then, just a few days before, you are sidelined. You really don't wish that on anyone," Van der Poel said in pre-race comments sent to media by Alpecin-Deceuninck.
