Jasper Stuyven finishes 2nd in front of Wout van Aert who as expected, didn't contest the sprint. Hats off to Wout for offering us one of the craziest pursuits I've seen in this race. 🎩 #E3SaxoClassic
“For me, that crash was decisive" - Wout van Aert laments Paterberg slip as Mathieu van der Poel claims E3 Saxo Classic victory
CyclingSaturday, 23 March 2024 at 10:46
Wout van Aert was unable to make it a hat-trick at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday afternoon. Playing a big role in his eventual third-placed finish however, was a crash for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader on the Paterberg.
“I wanted to jump onto the cobblestones, from the gutter, to gain some positions, but I got stuck behind the edge,” he explains of his crash post-race. “I now have pain in my elbow and hip, my right side is also quite stiff. I'll have to get that checked. I have some pain now, but that often happens shortly after exertion.”
“For me, that crash was decisive for the rest of the race," lamented the 29-year-old Belgian. Despite the crash seemingly a potentially race-ending incident though, van Aert did fight back and made it as close to around 15 seconds from eventual race winner, Mathieu van der Poel before fading back and seeing the timegap build up again.
According to van Aert himself, the immense effort it took to get back to the front after the crash eventually proved fatal for his race-winning hopes. "It took a lot of strength to fight back after that," he explains. "I ended up alone behind Mathieu, it seemed to be fairly even for a while, but I couldn't get much closer. I thought for a moment that I would still be able to close the gap, but when that didn't work after the Karnemelkbeekstraat, it was difficult to maintain my pace after that. At the end I was at my limit."
Being joined by Lidl-Trek's Jasper Stuyven, van Aert barely even fought his compatriot in the sprint for second. "I was KO in the sprint, I was happy that I could have been in the wheel of Jasper for a while," he says of the finale. “I am satisfied, given the circumstances this was the highest achievable. The crash was not ideal for winning the race. Mathieu was strong, as we expected. It was going to be difficult to do anything about it.”
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- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024
- Crawl back under your stone.leodis22-12-2024
- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024
- Look at what Froome’s won since his last TdF, stop denying there is still more than possible one outcome to the future.Mistermaumau21-12-2024