Team Visma | Lease a Bike were ultimately successful at Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2024 as Matteo Jorgenson powered to victory after a late attack. After the very nasty crash of their leader, Wout van Aert however, celebrations were notably muted.
Mick van Dijke was right next to van Aert when the crash happened and carried the effects of the crash for the rest of the race in his mind. "I did the pull towards Berg Ten Houte, which put me behind that group with Tim van Dijke, Wout, Matteo and Tiesj Benoot. Tim then did the work to the Kanarieberg, where he did a full lead-out. I just spoke to him and he said that he had the throttle fully open, but then heard a crash behind him and Wout sliding on his back on the ground," he recaps to In de Leiderstrui.
The effects of the crash were immediately known to van Dijke with a piercing scream from his leader signalling the heavy nature of the incident. "I passed by afterwards and Wout was crying out in pain, so of course you don't feel good at all," he continues. "I saw that Wout was actually completely undressed. As cyclists we have little protection."
"It's all in good fun, that the action being whipped up. But then things can sometimes go wrong and that has unfortunately happened now," van Dijke concludes. "Wout is our leader. I don't know how he is doing now, but your thoughts are there. The fact that we still win says enough about our team. That's why we can still do the final, which is nice, but it feels very strange. It's nice from a sporting point of view, but... we do lose our leader."
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