It’s a relentless business, cycling. Wout van Aert is still lying in a hospital bed in Herentals after the crash the ended his Classics campaign, but thoughts are already turning to how the rest of the Belgian’s season will be affected by the injuries he sustained at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Van Aert sustained fractures to his collarbone, sternum and ribs when he was among the fallers in a mass crash on the approach to the Kanarieberg on Wednesday afternoon. That same evening, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that Van Aert would miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race.
Given the severity of his injuries and the proximity of the Grande Partenza in Turin on May 4, Van Aert’s planned Giro d’Italia debut must surely be in severe doubt, though his Visma-Lease a Bike team are reluctant to make any pronouncement on his return to competition at this point.
Van Aert’s Giro participation had been planned partly with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in mind, but it remains to be seen if Visma-Lease a Bike see fit to slot him into their Tour de France selection instead if the corsa rosa proves unfeasible.
Directeur Sportif Grisha Niermann spent an hour by Van Aert’s beside in Herentals on Friday morning. Speaking to reporters in Ghent that afternoon, he confirmed that Van Aert had successfully undergone surgery on his fractures but noted that it was too soon to start discussing a revised schedule, not least because the rider is still processing his absence from the Ronde.
“We always have a plan B, we know what can happen,” Niermann said. “But it’s way too early to think about the plan B for now. At the moment, we’re just thinking about when he can go home to his family. When he gets back on the bike, then we can start talking about his next goals.”
At this early juncture, Niermann added, there isn’t even a rough timeframe for Van Aert’s resumption of training. “I think that’s up to the doctors,” Niermann said. “He has several fractures. It won’t be next Monday that he’s back on the bike.
“I think right now, seeing Wout today, it’s not the moment to talk about the next plans. It’s a moment when he’s still feeling very sad and in pity for himself that he’s crashed and missing these races.”
Van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) were among the fallers as the group of favourites sped towards the Kanarieberg on Wednesday. The climb and the fast descent preceding it had already been removed from the Tour of Flanders route due to safety concerns, but Niermann reported that Van Aert apportioned no blame to the course.
“Wout doesn’t agree that the descent was so dangerous, or that the crash happened because of it and was therefore the organisation's fault,” Niermann said. “This was just a race incident, a very nasty one. But you absolutely cannot say we took too many risks.
"Flanders Classics is the organiser that absolutely does the most for the safety of the riders. The roads here are, by definition, not safe, but they do everything they can to make them as safe as possible.”
Jorgenson
Niermann was speaking at Visma-Lease a Bike’s pre-Tour of Flanders press conference, an event that would surely have been more heavily attended had Van Aert been fit to ride. In his absence, Visma will be led on Sunday by Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Matteo Jorgenson and teammate Tiesj Benoot, but the overwhelming favourite for victory is Van Aert’s old rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Even before losing their outright leader, Visma’s Classics unit had been bedevilled by ill fortune in recent weeks. Christophe Laporte was ruled out of the Ronde due to illness, while several of the riders who will start have been laid low in recent days. Dylan van Baarle missed Dwars door Vlaandern through illness, while Jan Tratnik abandoned the race having already crashed at Gent-Wevelgem.
“I can say we found seven guys who can race,” Niermann said of their lineup. “One of them has a broken nose, one has been sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, a few of them crashed last Friday…
“When we made our plans in October and November, this was not the team we had on our minds and we’re absolutely not the favourites for Sunday. But we have seven strong and motivated riders. We will go down fighting, we will give our best.”
Niermann’s colleague Merijn Zeeman offered a rallying call of sorts when he recalled how the team rebuilt their plans on the hoof at the Tours de France of 2021 and 2022 after Primož Roglič’s early crashes.
The man most likely to slot into the Jonas Vingegaard role here is Jorgenson. Already winner of Paris-Nice earlier this month, the US rider underlined his aptitude for Flemish racing with his victory in Waregem in midweek.
“In the history of the team, so many times we’ve had so much bad luck or incidents,” Zeeman said. “At the 2021 Tour, when Primož crashed, we also felt that everything was gone, but then Jonas finished second and it was actually his breakthrough race. We can name of lot of moments when these things have happened and we have shown resolve.”
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