"I didn’t realize it had gone viral straight away" - Wout Van Aert accidentally headbutted a fan on the Kemmelberg and the memory will stay for life
Cycling
Middelkerke - Wevelgem has delivered a lot of action with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert going on the attack. On the final ascent of the Kemmelberg, one fan got a closer look at the spectacle than others, has he got headbutted by Van Aert who was on the side of cobbled road attempting to follow the Dutchman.
It was a moment that wasn't captured by TV footage, but instead one of the photographers on the mythical Flandrien berg. With the gradients being very steep and the side of the road slightly more gentle in terms of road surface, the riders pursue every bit of road they can so as to move faster. This movement saw the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider come into contact with a fan.
“During the last passage on the Kemmelberg, I had picked a nice spot together with my daughter, who was standing just below me," the fan said, after being identified and interviewed by Sporza.
"Mathieu passed first. When I turned around to see Wout, he was already there and I lightly touched him. In the photo it looks like I hit him fully with my nose, but it was more in the turning motion.”
Looks painful, but that is not the case
The picture, taken by Chris Hauld, quickly got viral on social media, capturing a moment that happened in a mere split second. The collision also looks quite painful due to how his nose receives the impact, but the fan denies that it was a hard hit: “There’s no damage at all. At that moment, I barely felt anything.”
Instead it was only a slight touch. But his face was quickly all over Flanders. “Suddenly I got message after message with the photo. I didn’t realize it had gone viral straight away. I sent him an apology via Instagram, just to be sure. It was never my intention to touch him.”
Nevertheless, despite being a harmless incident in which some humour can be extracted, it does bring forward the topic of the fans' proximity to the riders and how it can endanger both, as well as have strong consequences on the outcome of races.
“I was standing neatly with my hands behind the barriers, but I misjudged the situation for a moment. I will pay more attention next time. Even when you think you are standing safely, you still have to be careful.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Not just ManU, far worse in some minority sports ventures.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- From your writing it sounds like you’ve been sharing your views with people here for quite a while, quite presumouptuous for a new profile.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Which is amazing given his weight and size, though, unlike in boxing and some rare instances we haven’t a clue what his fighting weight was. Anybody know why these “public” figures floated around are considered as being accurate?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
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- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- Are you able to discuss ANYTHING without making a reference back to your Special 1? It’s almost as if you’re paid by his marketing team to improve his ranking in search results.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
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- as we all like the david-style rebels, he will leave a gap.Ketterechts12-11-2026
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