In the Zilvermeercross in Mol, it seemed we were heading for a battle in wintry conditions between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, but fifteen minutes before the finish, the Belgian cyclocross rider suddenly slipped out in a slick corner. What is the damage?
At first, the bloody knee of the three-time cyclocross world champion caught the eye, but especially the correction Van Aert had to make with his foot/ankle before he went down caused pain and injury.
"He couldn’t finish the race because he has a lot of pain in his ankle," says Visma | Lease a Bike team director Jan Boven to the gathered press after the race in Mol. "There are two very small abrasions on his knee. That knee has already seen better days (due to some previous crashes, ed.). But the ankle is the most painful."
Examinations
Van Aert now needs further examination. "The ankle is so swollen now, they need to check it at the hospital: what can be examined at this point. For now, we have to wait. Only after that can we draw conclusions. The cross in Zonhoven (on January 4, ed.) is just two days away. That’s very short notice. We can’t give 100% certainty yet on whether he can start there."
Van Aert at work in Mol - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
According to Boven, the slick conditions caused by the sudden snow showers in Mol were partly to blame for his rider’s crash. "In the end, the conditions were very different. You do reconnaissance in the sunshine and dry, then you have to be able to adjust to endure these orphan conditions during the race."
"In the end, Mathieu already slipped just before Wout, but that was not the cause of the fall itself. What did happen was that Wout was a bit startled because Mathieu had to make at least a small correction. And Wout responded with a slight fright reaction. He feels he made a small mistake there. It was definitely slick there, because in the previous lap Felipe Orts already crashed in that corner."
Battle gave hope
Physically, Van Aert was riding his best cyclocross of the winter. "The duel gave hope, without a doubt. In Loenhout, we were close already, but Wout had two flat tires there, so we never saw that battle. But today, especially when Wout came back to the front in the race, he seemed comfortable. It’s a shame we couldn’t see the result," concludes Boven.
Van Aert only had the cross in Zonhoven and the Belgian cyclocross championship in Beringen (on January 11) left on his schedule, before switching his focus to preparing for his road campaign.
🚵🇧🇪 | The decisive moment in images. How would this duel have ended if Wout van Aert had not crashed? #cyclocross
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