Achi news desk-
Paris, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 28th March, 2024) Belgian cyclist Wout van Aert broke his collar bone and several ribs in a high-speed mass fall during the Around Flanders one-day race on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old star will now miss Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and next week’s Paris-Roubaix but could be back for the Giro d’Italia in May, where he will be hoping for several wins on stage.
An accident occurred on Wednesday with the lead group driving at a speed of 60km per hour on a wide highway.
Van Aert fell on the uneven surface before being run over by another rider.
Visibly in pain, with his riding outfit almost completely off and with abrasion marks covering his back, he was left screaming in agony as he was wheeled into an ambulance.
“Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the accident at Dwars door Vlaanderen today,” his Visma team said in a statement.
“He was diagnosed with a broken collar bone and several broken ribs in hospital. It is not clear how long his recovery will take.
“He will definitely miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.”
The Amstel Gold Race takes place on April 14 while the Giro d’Italia, where van Aert hinted last week he would target four out of five stage wins, starts on May 4.
Van Aert’s sheer power and stamina were key factors in Visma’s success in lifting the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana last season.
He has won nine stages on the Tour de France.
His role as ‘road manager’ on the Tours makes him the highest paid star from Visma alongside Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard at around four million Euros per season.
– Outside comfort zone –
Aware that the clock was ticking down on his career, Van Aert decided to target the Monuments races, starting with the Paris-Roubaix mudfest on the old mining roads of northern France, the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, the Giro and the Paris Olympics. in July.
“Staying in the comfort zone is always the easiest thing, but the reality is that I haven’t won the Ronde (Flanders) and Roubaix yet,” he said as he left a three-week altitude training camp in Tenerife in early March.
“It was a difficult decision to skip the Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo,” he said of the two races he has actually already won.
But it was a necessary choice to be in the best possible shape for the start of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
“There is a good chance that I will race the Amstel Gold Race after the cobbles. Hopefully I will do so with one or more victories under my belt,” he said at the time.
Van Aert will almost certainly be a gold medal contender for the individual time trial and the 273km road race around Paris at the 2024 Olympics.
Wednesday’s race was won by Van Aert’s American team-mate Matteo Jorgenson, who added Around Flanders to his Paris-Nice victory earlier in March.
