Wout van Aert had a scare during stage 10 of the Tour de France, suffering “contusions to his left elbow and forearm” after crashing on a corner. The incident was serious enough for the Visma-Lease a Bike rider to head to the medical van post-stage to check for fractures. Fortunately, the news was better than anticipated.
“Luckily I have no fractures,” Van Aert told the media in a broadcast interview. “We came here to be sure that I didnโt have any fractures in the arm because that was quite painful after the crash but luckily thatโs not the case, so good news.”
The multi-discipline rider, renowned for his exceptional bike handling skills, made a misstep as he led the peloton into a sharper-than-expected bend, positioning team leader Jonas Vingegaard for the steep terrain ahead. “It was my own mistake, I overcooked the corner,” Van Aert admitted. “I was really not aware it was so tight and then I crashed quite hard on the sidewalk.”
“Afterwards it was quite painful on every downhill so I was a bit afraid for the arm but apparently there are no fractures so I hope to recover from it and that I can continue,โ he added.
Despite the crash, Van Aert finished the stage in 111th place, over 30 minutes after Vingegaard had claimed victory. “The last 15k when we heard that Jonas had won โ both for Christophe [Laporte] and me in our group โ was less painful,” Van Aert said.
Support for Vingegaard
Crashes, Van Aert acknowledged, make the task of supporting Vingegaard in his pursuit of a third Tour de France victory even harder. After stage 11, Vingegaard sits third in the general classification, 1:14 behind race leader Tadej Pogaฤar and now just eight seconds behind Remco Evenepoel.
The Visma-Lease a Bike team, still at full strength with all eight riders, would face a significant setback if Van Aert had to abandon due to injury. However, Van Aert remains determined. When asked if he could bounce back and continue supporting Vingegaard, he said, “Weโll see. Thatโs of course my goal. So far it’s not been really lucky this year for crashes but we will see how I feel tomorrow. Iโm just happy that I donโt have something serious where I have to abandon, so thatโs the most important for now.”
Main photo credit: Getty