"I was a bit careless" - Crash and mechanicals cost Wout van Aert chance to win Gravel World Championships

Wout van Aert was a big contender to win the Gravel World Championships but his race ended up quite different then what he had hoped. He still finished in the Top10, but had no chance of fighting for victory after a crash and several mechanicals.

“It was all a bit disappointing. My saddle had collapsed and I had a crash and a puncture. But that crash and the puncture were twice my own fault, I was a bit careless,” van Aert admits in an interview with VTM. “I couldn't get my band fixed quickly. As a result, I lost a lot of time and was at the back. I knew I could never get to the front again, but I didn't feel like turning and I rode my own pace.”

Halfway through the race the Belgian was almost 10 minutes down on the head of the race, where Matej Mohoric, Florian Vermeersch and Connor Swift stood out and went on to ride for the podium. In the final couple hours of racing the Jumbo-Visma rider rode very strongly and did not lose time to Mohoric, but was too far off for the podium. However, not giving up, he kept pushing in his final race of the season into an eighth place in Veneto.

“I went from group to group, and ended up in the top 10. It was still a beautiful experience. I would definitely like to come back to the World Championships," he states, happy with the experience. "It suits me and I enjoyed it. But everything has to go well in terms of material, but that wasn't the case today.”