Wout Van Aert has suffered another heavy fall. While he was back in top form on the roads of the Vuelta, six months after his terrible abandonment of À Travers la Flandre, the Belgian fell on the descent of the Collada Llomena, 48 km from the finish of the 16th stage, this Tuesday.
In the rain, Van Aert crashed on a winding bend, seriously injuring his right knee. His second of the day, the first being without seriousness. Despite an attempt to restart, he quickly understood that he could not pedal and that the pain was too great. The leader of the climbers’ classification and the points classification also gives up his distinctive jerseys five days before the finish in Madrid.
An unfortunate setback before the World Championships
Winner of three stages and very often at the front in this Vuelta, a race he discovered at 29, the green jersey of the 2022 Tour de France was back in shape at the best of times, that is to say a few days before the World Championships (time trial on the 22nd, road race on the 29th intended for puncher-climbers like him). The next few hours will reveal the seriousness of his injuries but they come at a bad time before this deadline.
This withdrawal also concludes a difficult 2024 for Visma-Lease a bike on the Grand Tours. If Jonas Vingegaard was able to return in time to perform well this summer on the Grande Boucle (2nd behind Tadej Pogacar), the Dutch, winners of the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta last year with three different riders, were this time much further behind. On the 2024 Vuelta alone, Van Aert is the third withdrawal of the team, after Dylan Van Baarle (fallen during the 2nd stage) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (non-starter on the 15th stage), while Sepp Kuss will not be able to bring the red jersey back to Madrid.