"The fact that Wout van Aert got into the ambulance does not bode well" - Visma lament yet more bad luck this season at 2024 Vuelta a Espana

Wout van Aert has been back to his brilliant best at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, winning three stages and amassing a lead in both the points classification and the King of the Mountains. Sadly, on stage 16 of the Spanish Grand Tour, it all came to a crashing halt.

Initially, the Belgian crashed early on stage 16. After having bounced back up from his first crash to get himself into the day's breakaway, Van Aert took maximum points at each of the first two categorised climbs. On a wet and slippery descent however, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star crashed and went hard into a gutter alongside Felix Engelhardt and Isaac del Toro. After attempting to carry on for a little while, a bloodied Van Aert was eventually forced to pull over, wait for the team car and abandon the race seeking medical attention.

In this seemingly cursed season for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Van Aert's Vuelta a Espana abandon is just the latest in a string of disasters from the Belgian's Spring-ending Dwars door Vlaanderen crash, Jonas Vingegaard's horror incident at the Itzulia Basque Country and many more.

As for Van Aert's current condition? “It didn't look good,” admitted Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann post-stage to VTM. “Our mechanic stayed with Wout and our team doctor is also on his way, we don't know anything else yet. Only that he fell on his knee. The fact that he got into the ambulance does not bode well. This is just very sour, things continue to go wrong for us.”