"This is really a disaster" - Belgian sports doctor rules Wout van Aert out of Giro d'Italia, warns that premature return to racing 'can be fatal'
Cycling
Wout van Aert has experienced adversity before in his professional career but perhaps none of this dimension. Days before another attempt at winning the cobbled monuments the Belgian rider crashed extremely hard and suffered extensive injuries that, according to a doctor who's in on the situation, will likely take months to heal and completely change his season.
"That is a polytrauma. We only see such things in serious traffic accidents. And then we only know the damage on the surface. In the event of a crash at 80 or 90 km/h, the inside may also be severely damaged," Belgian sports association doctor Kris Vandermieren told Sporza. Further research will now have to show whether there is any more damage. Compare it with the body of a car. People are now talking about the outside, but the inside has also experienced a severe shock."
Van Aert was visibly shaken after the crash, but the outcome later in the night proved even worst than initially expected. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider has suffered a broken collarbone, three ribs and a fracture in the sternum after crashing at high speed during Dwars door Vlaanderen.
"A crack in the sternum heals itself, but that takes time. That could even take months. But of course you have to keep breathing. The [rib] fracture line is therefore always moving, so it does not heal easily. You have to count on that for 3 to 6 weeks," he continues. "And then there is a heavy mental impact: Van Aert will be completely destabilized hormonally. The "neurohormones", which make you feel good, have been shaken up. This is really a disaster. At the worst possible time, at the top of his career... This is really not easy."
The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are immediately ruled out, but his debut at the Giro d'Italia is now also extremely unlikely. The Belgian will have to take several weeks at the very least off the road to not only recover from his injuries, but prevent further injuries that could prove even worst:
"In the event of a new fall, those broken ribs can cut through the lung membrane like a razor blade and cause a collapsed lung. That can be fatal," Vandermieren warns. "There is always a doctor nearby during a competition, but not during training. Van Aert will therefore mainly have to train on the rollers in the beginning and try to avoid a crash."
This means that, in the space of five weeks, it's very unlikely that van Aert will resume intensity training and take to the start of the Giro. He had ruled out a participation at the Tour de France this year as he focused on different goals including the Olympic Games. This race should not be at risk for the time being, however his calendar will most likely be completely turned on it's head.
"It is important to review his medical situation week by week. The Olympic Games? If he can return to competition after 2 or 3 months, that is perfectly feasible. But that is of course a piece of cake," he concludes.
Read also
Bernal suffers similar injuries and took a while to get back among the best since that near fatal accident
After seeing Bernal race this season, fans of Wout can have hope that this is not the end. Even if it takes a year or two to recover his fitness, he'll still have at least a couple more years of prime form.
Not just fans of Wout, fans of cycling would be worse off with him gone. I’m in total agreement with the doc having been through a similar incident but with the rib-pierced lung which is a bummer for athletes as it (as long as they find you in time) obliges lung tissue healing which can only be effective during artificial coma. This in turn degrades muscle mass because you are effectively motionless for 7-10 days. Deeply asleep I was consuming 5000kcal a day to heal, had to re-learn breathing, couldn’t hold my head steady the first days even for 10 seconds and at 1m78 dropped from 74 to 58kg in 10 days, took 3 days before I could crawl/slide from bed to toilet, a week to walk with something to lean on but could run reasonably after 2 months and apart from huge knots and pains was more of less back in shape at 4 months. Doc said I was lucky, sedentary people don’t always survive such traumas because their metabolism cannot deal with consuming enough for the healing to work. So, roller yes, careful road solo training maybe but certainly no racing or risk for 3 months. Best wishes and strength to all of them.
He's only broke his collarbone, anyone think he's died 🙄 #christalmighty 🤦♂️
The difference is that [Egan] Bernal almost died from his crash during training. His case was hitting a truck🤕😬😬, not during official races. Like Wout did
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025