Cycling – The Belgian was leader of the points classification and the mountains classification. A huge blow
Three stage wins, leader of the points classification, leader of the mountains classification, present in almost all the breakaways… Wout Van Aert was until Tuesday, the big man of this Tour of Spain 2024. The Belgian from Visma-Lease a bike was still at the front of this 17th stage arriving at the Lakes of Covadonga.
But, on the long descent of the Collada Llomena, made slippery by the onset of rain, Van Aert made a mistake, following Felix Engelhardt. The impact was brutal: the Belgian violently hit a wall of stones before falling to the ground. Although he tried to get back on his bike, Wout Van Aert stopped a few meters further on, his right side badly damaged.
Sitting in the trunk of his sports director’s car, the cyclo-crossman appeared very pale, on the verge of losing consciousness. His withdrawal was confirmed several minutes after the fall. The recent bronze medalist in the time trial at the Olympic Games had already suffered a huge fall at the end of March, during A Travers la Flandres. Van Aert had suffered a broken collarbone, several fractures(…) - 20minutes
Also read:
GP E3 : Mathieu van der Poel returns to the front for Wout Van Aert
Tour of Flanders: Christophe Laporte withdraws, Wout van Aert deprived of his right arm
Tour of Flanders: Big favourite Wout Van Aert withdraws after testing positive for Covid
