"They passed the scene of the disaster on the way" - Marc Sergeant explains lingering affects of 2024 crash for Van Aert's poor E3 Saxo Classic

Mathieu van der Poel delivered another masterclass on Friday to win the E3 Saxo Classic, launching his race-winning move on the Taaienberg alongside Mads Pedersen and Filippo Ganna. The trio lit up the decisive climb, but one major team was notably absent from the action: Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Wout van Aert, expected to be among the favourites, never featured in the final selection, leaving many fans and pundits wondering what went wrong for the Belgian star.

Marc Sergeant offered his thoughts in Het Nieuwsblad, suggesting that Van Aert is still far from his best.

"This is not yet the Wout van Aert as we know him. Too bad. But you see what you see. I am not giving up hope for the Tour yet, but this is not a good sign."

Sergeant pointed to Van Aert’s positioning going into the crucial moment of the race as a key factor in his underwhelming performance.

"If you start the Taaienberg in twentieth position, you know that not much has to happen or you will get into trouble."

Beyond race tactics, Sergeant believes Van Aert may still be mentally affected by his crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen last season, which occurred on a section of road featured again in this year’s E3.

"Then I point to those crashes last year. What's more, they also passed the scene of the disaster on the way, where he fell so badly a year ago in Dwars door Vlaanderen. That must be in his head somewhere. He grabs his brakes more often. But that costs you six or seven places every time."