“There were shards of glass on the road... They can’t have ended up there by accident” – Wout van Aert’s comeback unravels in another cruel twist at Le Samyn 2026

Wout van Aert’s return to racing ended not in a sprint for victory, but in frustration and suspicion after a puncture inside the final 10 kilometres of Le Samyn brought his comeback to an abrupt halt.

“There were shards of glass on the road,” Van Aert said afterwards in comments collected by HLN. “Suddenly, there were a lot of shards of glass. That’s quite strange on a course we’d already ridden over five or six times. They can’t have ended up there by accident.”

The Belgian had been active in the decisive phase, reacting to late attacks while team-mate Per Strand Hagenes held a narrow solo advantage ahead. The tactical picture was clear. Hagenes was Plan A. Van Aert was Plan B for a reduced sprint.

“It was of course, a very good situation for us as a team,” Van Aert explained. “Per was up the road and was super strong. Plan B was that I would be at the front in the last 10 kilometres and sprint as well. But then I punctured and quickly found myself in no man’s land.”

Despite attempting to limit the damage, the effort proved futile. “I still tried to start the chase, but you know that on your own, you’re not going to ride faster than a peloton.”

Van Aert’s puncture came at the worst possible moment. He had not been dropped. He was positioned and responding to moves, including accelerations from Alec Segaert and Warre Vangheluwe. Instead of contesting the uphill finish in Dour, he was forced into a bike change with a team-mate before later receiving his own spare machine once the team car arrived.

By then, the race had gone.

“It was simply too late to come back,” said Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann. “At the moment he punctured in the finale, we were about a minute and a half behind him with the team car. He first changed bikes with a team-mate and then again with us. After that, it was simply too late to come back.”

Up the road, Hagenes’ aggressive solo move on the final lap was only extinguished inside the final 500 metres before Jordi Meeus powered to victory in the sprint. Visma had animated the race, but left without a result to reflect their influence.

Van Aert was relatively satisfied with his condition despite the outcome. “I felt quite good, but I wasn’t able to give myself real answers because I missed the finale. In any case, it was the right decision to start here. The aim was to race as soon as possible, and that’s what I need right now. I’ve been able to take a step forward here.”

Niermann echoed that calm assessment. “Wout’s feeling was okay. We didn’t expect it to be amazing today. It’s a shame he couldn’t sprint, but we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from today. It was good to have another race in the legs before Strade.”

Yet placed within the wider context of recent seasons, the episode inevitably adds to a familiar pattern.

A heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2024 derailed that Classics campaign. A serious knee injury later that year ended his Vuelta and brought his season to a premature close. Illness disrupted key moments in 2025. This winter, a cyclocross crash forced ankle surgery and delayed his road build-up once more before sickness ruled him out of Omloop.

Le Samyn was intended as the clean return. Instead, it became another interruption at precisely the wrong time.

There is no sense of panic inside Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Van Aert flies to Italy immediately to prepare for Strade Bianche, and the race kilometres gained in Belgium still matter. But for a rider whose recent campaigns have repeatedly been shaped by crashes, illness and ill-timed setbacks, the sight of him standing on the roadside once again felt uncomfortably familiar.