Wout van Aert escapes serious injury after crash in Tour de France corner

No-fractures-โ€“-Wout-van-Aert-assesses-damage-from-overcooked-corner-at-Tour-de-France

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 didnโ€™t have any fractures in the arm because that was quite painful after the crash but luckily thatโ€™s 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 Pogaฤar 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, “Weโ€™ll see. Thatโ€™s of course my goal. So far it’s not been really lucky this year for crashes but we will see how I feel tomorrow. Iโ€™m just happy that I donโ€™t have something serious where I have to abandon, so thatโ€™s the most important for now.”

Main photo credit: Getty