When the Tour de France meets the cobbled roads of Paris-Roubaix the nerves are always high, and this was on display when race leader Wout van Aert crashed along with teammate Steven Kruijswijk in the mad-scramble for position ahead of the first sector of pavé.
Van Aert, who has led the Tour de France since stage 2, was the victim of a narrowing of the road alongside a traffic island. The riders swerved right to avoid the kerb and Kruijswijk and Van Aert went down.
The maillot jaune was back up quickly and chasing behind the Jumbo-Visma car. After moving up through the convoy, Van Aert, distracted in conversation with his teammate, almost crashed into the back of the Team DSM car.
However, Van Aert's bike skills and reflexes saved the day, and he avoided another fall.
Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies), a favourite for the stage, also crashed in a right-hand bend, while others came down in the 11 cobbled sectors, including Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and George Bennett (UAE Team Emirates).
Watch Van Aert's crash and frantic chase in the video above courtesy DailyMotion.
