VIDEO | Not only Mathieu van der Poel was unlucky in Arenberg - High-speed crash ended Florian Vermeersch's race

The Trouée d'Arenberg makes plenty victims every year, ones due to punctures and mechanicals, others due to crashes. Whilst the TV broadcast didn't capture crashes amongst the big favourites, they did happen. Florian Vermeersch's race ended on the mythical five-star sector.

Arenberg does not open up the action in Roubaix but it is the first of three five-star sectors, the most important in the race, and the brutality of its cobbles means the leaders fight to be in the head of the peloton, not in the slipstream.

Hence we will often see the main favourites right at the head of affairs, which is seen in the spectator clip that has been circling around social media which captures a key moment in the race. Wout Van Aert leads the way followed by Mick van Dijke, Tadej Pogacar and Mads Pedersen. Mathieu van der Poel is already notably behind due to his puncture.

The spectator was positioned on the ideal location to capture the unlucky Florian Vermeersch, right-hand man of Tadej Pogacar, who punctured and crashed on the sector. Jasper Stuyven, eventual third, miraculously avoided the fall right behind.

Vermeersch ultimately never got back to the front and also did not finish the race, ultimately having very little effect on Tadej Pogacar's race. The Emirati leader was isolated from this moment onwards and did not have the legs to drop Wout Van Aert, whilst he also did not have a teammate who could help in a more tactical race. After the performances he had put on this spring, the Belgian - in this position - could've been in the fight for the win and changed the entire outcome of the race.

It was not the ideal way for Pogacar or Vermeersch to end their spring campaign as they missed out on the win, in a race that was marked by the mistimed incidents for the team.