Wout van Aert has been ruled out of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix after breaking several bones in a heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
The race was won by his teammate, Matteo Jorgenson, but Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed in a statement after the race that Van Aert had suffered multiple fractures in the incident and would be ruled out for some time.
"Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today," the statement read. "A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital. It is unclear how long his recovery will take.
"Van Aert will definitely miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race."
The Belgian had been targeting victory in the two Monuments and had tailored much of his season so far towards that major target.
Jorgenson told the media post-race that he had seen the full incident and knew instantly it was a bad one.
"It was just before the Kanarieberg," Jorgenson said. "It was obviously a decisive moment in the race but It was just a racing incident. We had two trains, Trek and us, and basically we came together, Wout and Alex Kirsch, I think, came together and it was a really ugly fall.
"I saw the whole thing and I knew that Wout was going to be out of the race at that point."
Visma-Lease a Bike had already lost Christophe Laporte to injury ahead of Sunday and Dylan van Baarle sat out Dwars door Vlaanderen due to illness. Question marks remain over whether Van Baarle will be fit for the Tour of Flanders or whether Laporte will recover from issues with a saddle sore in time to ride Roubaix.
Jan Tratnik also abandoned Dwars on Wednesday prior to the crash involving Van Aert. Despite the injuries to the other key riders, losing the Belgian will come as the biggest blow for the Dutch team.
On Tuesday afternoon, Visma-Lease a Bike DS Grischa Niermann told Cycling Weekly that the team had faith in the likes of Jorgenson to fill in for his stricken teammates in the major races to come.
"It's also part of life and especially part of cycling,” Niermann said. “We still have a very strong team and we still believe in the guys who are on the start line.
"Hopefully Dylan will be ok for Flanders and Christophe will at least be ok for Roubaix but of course, this is not how we mapped it out when we were all sitting together in the winter and when we planned these particular few weeks of the Classics.”
It is not the first time that Van Aert has suffered severe bad luck in the build up to the Tour of Flanders. The Belgian was forced to miss the race after testing positive for Covid in 2022.
Last year in Paris-Roubaix, he suffered a puncture in the closing stages which ultimately forced him out of contention as a select lead group containing Mathieu van der Poel, Van Aert and Jasper Philipsen headed towards the finish in the Roubaix velodrome.
In Van Aert's absence, all eyes will be on riders like Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen to challenge Mathieu van der Poel for victory in the two races. Pedersen and his teammate Jasper Stuyven, were involved in the same crash as Van Aert and Trek later confirmed that Stuyven was also badly injured.
"We can confirm that Jasper Stuyven fractured his collarbone in the crash today and will require surgery," a statement from the team read. "Scans confirmed that Alex Kirsch has a fractured metacarpal on the right hand and will also require surgery."
The update from the team also said that Pedersen had escaped serious injury and only suffered abrasions and contusions.
"The plan remains that he will race on Sunday but he will continue to be monitored by the team," Lidl-Trek said.
Visma-Lease a Bike shared a fresh update on Van Aert's condition on Thursday afternoon which explained his participation in the Giro d'Italia is now also in doubt.
"Wout van Aert had a successful operation today," the new statement read. "It is unclear when Wout will be able to get back on his bike."
"The next few weeks will be all about his recovery," it continued. "He will, therefore, miss the spring classics. His participation in the Giro d'Italia is still uncertain. We will make a decision in the coming weeks based on his recovery.
"On behalf of Wout, we thank everyone for their support. He now hopes to continue his recovery in peace."
Update Wout van AertWout van Aert had a successful operation today. Examination revealed that he suffered a broken sternum, broken collarbone and several broken ribs.It is unclear when Wout will be able to get back on his bike. The next few weeks will be all about his…March 28, 2024
