The impact of the accident left an immediate mark on Wout van Aert, as his shirt was torn to shreds, his back caught fire due to road rash and multiple fractures causing severe pain. The magnitude of the moment took a beat or two longer to register.
When this happened, Van Aart's body began to convulse with sobs. He didn't need an x-ray to tell him what his broken heart already knew. His 2024 Classics campaign ended, not with victory on the Roubaix track, but here, on a lonely road outside Ronse, 67 kilometers from the Dwars Door Vlaanderen finish.
On the TV, Van Aert's guttural howls could be heard even above the confused, excited chatter of the commentary team, and it was difficult to tell whether the pain was from the pain of his injuries or the death of a dream. It was also hard not to think of Sean Kelly and a similar moment of pity at a critical moment in his career.
Comparisons with Kelly accompanied Van Aert on some of his most scintillating rides, on those evenings when nothing seemed off limits for the most accomplished rider in the peloton. It probably made sense that there would be a resemblance between them in Van Art's Saddest Day as well.
The 1987 Tour de France was a final dance for Kelly as a yellow jersey competitor. With Bernard Hinault retired and Greg LeMond absent, the Irishman set out from Berlin as the closest thing to favorite for one of the most open Tours in living memory. His challenge ended not far from Brive on Stage 12, when he broke his collarbone in a low-speed crash. He fought for an hour before giving in to the inevitable and climbing out.
When CAS sporting director Christian Romeo placed a long-sleeved shirt on Kelly's shoulders and led him towards the team car, he could no longer contain himself. The toughest man in cycling cried openly and shamelessly, and it seemed the entire Tour convoy was mourning him.
The pulsation of his collarbone was something Kelly could handle, and had experienced before. The pain of pulling the plug was something else, an agony beyond even his famous squeaks.
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That's how it was for Van Art on Wednesday.
After dragging himself to the side of the road, he realized that his carefully choreographed style at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix had not been for nothing. Suddenly his entire season was derailed. He is unlikely to recover in time to take part in the Giro d'Italia, forcing him to rethink his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
“We've never seen Wout van Aert cry after a setback. Never! This time yes.” Het Nieuwsblad It was noted with Thursday morning
“Van Aert’s tears were tears of pain and disappointment. The realization that all the sacrifices made in the past few months had been in vain hit Van Aert like a hammer blow.
Van Aert had been involved in a reduced cyclocross program over the winter as part of his stint at Ronde. He spent weeks locked at altitude in the Parador Hotel on Tenerife. It has overtaken Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo. For months, everything in his life existed as a function of March 31st.
And now he's gone.
Dark edge
Although Van Aert's Visma-Lease A Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson went on to win the Dwars Door Vlaanderen, it was a bit of a muted celebration at the finish in Waregem.
Tiesj Benoot was fourth on the day, but when he arrived in the mixed zone, his thoughts were more about his unwitting role in Van Aert's crash than his key role in Jorgenson's win.
“He shouted at me to speed up, which I did,” Pinot said of this mass accident on the fast approach to Canariberg. “But I think he touched my back wheel when I stopped to accelerate. I feel really bad about that, actually.
Pinot's role in the incident was a cruel irony. He did more than most to prepare Van Aart for his scheduled prize fight with Mathieu van der Poel in Ronde and Roubaix, joining his friend in that three-week camp in Tenerife, competing with him on those endless trips through the bustle of the red. Mount Teide.
The atmosphere was sombre on the Visma-Lease A Bike team bus, where most of the reporters had gathered after the race. Plans to check in with several Ronde contenders in the mixed zone have been put on hold. Save for the front page: The Van Aart case was the story that would dominate the news cycle in Flanders.
At that very moment, Van Aart was in the hospital undergoing evaluation, but the diagnosis already seemed clear. Sports director Grisha Nierman tried to strike an upbeat tone, even if he knew he was fighting a losing battle.
“Anyway, we will start Sunday with seven strong riders,” he said, certainly aware that they would be lining up without the strongest riders.
At various stops around the Visma-Lease A Bike bus, members of the management team were being attacked by TV crews and reporters. No one yet had precise information about Van Aart's injuries, but everyone had already felt what the result of those X-rays would be. That roadside howl said it all, long before the announcement was made detailing Van Aart's broken collarbone and ribs, and confirming his absence from the Ronde, Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Races.
Mirren Zeman couldn't help but dwell on the duality of the occasion when he spoke.
“One moment, you see the horrific collision of Wott and those other boys, and the next moment the rider is crossing the finish line with his hands in the air,” he said. “Cycling is a beautiful sport with a dark edge.”
Doomed
Van Aart won 46 races as a professional, including a string of enviable classics: Milan-San Remo, Strade Bianchi, Ghent-Wevelgem, E3 Saxo Classic (twice), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Korn-Brussels-Korn.
The races he covets more than any other are the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but his relationship with these events has been unlucky.
“The Ronde and Roubaix: look a bit doomed for Wout van Aert,” reads the Thursday morning edition of Het Latest News put it.
Van Aert's only happy Ronde experience came on his debut in 2018, when he claimed a promising ninth place during his initial transition from cyclocross to road.
A year later, he finished a disappointing 14th. In 2020, he finished second in the duathlon, eventually being edged out by perennial rival Mathieu van der Poel.
The following spring, Van Aart was relatively poor at No. 6, but that was better than in 2022, when a COVID-19 diagnosis ruled him out entirely. Twelve months ago, he had to settle for fourth place, because he couldn't get along with Van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.
His track record at Paris-Roubaix was equally disappointing. After finishing 13th in 2018, a series of mechanical mishaps meant his scintillating form saw him finish only 22nd a year later. He labored to finish seventh in the pandemic-delayed 2021 edition, before having to settle for second place the following April. Last year, a late puncture spoiled Van Aart's challenge and sent him into third place.
And now this is the final ordeal.
Van Aert will be 30 years old when he dreams about it again. In previous generations, this was the age when a classics hunter might have felt he had reached his prime. These days, the picture is less clear.
“This is young enough to win the Ronde and Roubaix,” Het Latest News male. “But on the other hand: In modern cycling, the winners are getting younger and younger. It doesn't get any easier.”
On the other hand, for Van der Poel, the path to a record-equalling third Tour of Flanders may have become clearer.
According to last Friday's E3 Harelbeke guide, Van Aert was the only rider who could hope to occupy the same rare spaces as the world champion at Kwaremont and Paterberg on Sunday.
Now Van der Poel's status as favorite is almost overwhelming, not least because Lidl-Trek also lost Jasper Stuyven after he broke his collarbone in the same accident as Van Aert. Stuyven's teammate Mads Pedersen, an impressive winner in Ghent-Wevelgem, was also down in the crash, although the Dane's participation on Sunday does not appear to be in doubt.
“Even if Mathieu van der Poel wins the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, it will forever be the version that was largely decided four days ago on the descent to Canariberg,” he said. Het Nieuwsblad.
In fact, this assessment may be overstated. The history of cycling is peppered with moments like these sliding doors, and we forget all about them much sooner than we think.
Tom Boonen's 2012 Tour of Flanders win was not diminished by the fact that Fabian Cancellara crashed at 50km. There is no asterisk in the record books besides Peter Sagan's 2016 Ronde win to highlight how Greg van Avermaet came out of a crash as well.
The cycling world turned on its axis when Van Aart hit Pinot's wheel on Wednesday afternoon, but the race continued as strong as ever. It always is.
There will be racing on Sunday as well, and a fitting match. The beauty and barbarism of the classics is that they wait for no one. Van Aart knows this better than anyone.
