Friday the 22nd: A rough day for Visma | Lease a Bike at E3 Harelbeke, with a riders even falling after the finish line!

The E3 Saxo Classic this Friday was the scene for the initial power showdown between Wout van Aert - and by extension, his team Visma | Lease a Bike - and Mathieu van der Poel. It turned out to be a physically tough day for the team in yellow and black at Harelbeke, while for Van der Poel, everything fell into place. Here's a glimpse into how Visma | Lease a Bike faced a string of bad luck over the course of just over two hundred kilometers.

On Tuesday, Van Aert spoke to the press from Tenerife - where he and his teammates Tiesj Benoot, Per Strand Hagenes, and Jan Tratnik landed in Belgium on Wednesday. "We're all looking strong. Jan kicked off the season on a high note and it's almost frightening to think he's only going to get better. Tiesj had a bit of a rocky start with his fall in the Algarve, but he's shown he's bounced back. And for Per, the high-altitude camp was a fantastic learning experience. He held up really well and will be up to the challenge," the Belgian highlighted.

Before the start of the E3, we caught up with Hagenes, brimming with enthusiasm after his altitude stint. "I'm feeling good. It was a challenging camp, being there with some of the strong riders. But I made it through, which is awesome. Normally, I wouldn't have been in the lineup for the E3 Saxo Classic, but with Christophe Laporte still recovering from his illness, I was called up as a replacement. I'm hoping my condition is up to par. Let's see how it goes," he said with his usual big smile.

Not much later, the smile had vanished from Dutch rider's face. Along with Dutch champion Dylan van Baarle and about eight other riders, he crashed hard onto the asphalt in the first hour of the race. A broken nose was the diagnosis for the young Visma | Lease a Bike rider, to the dismay of team director Arthur van Dongen. "We pulled Per from the race, mainly because he also had a headache. But that fall... on a new section of the course, it's unbelievable that it was included," the team director sighed. "The road they took in Waregem was a new part of the course, and it's definitely not an improvement."

"Everyone talks about safety in cycling, but then you should avoid such areas. So many constrictions and obstacles on the road, they're completely unnecessary. On the ring road of Waregem, where that big crash happened. Unbelievable, but apparently, there are still safety managers who see the race differently than I do," said Van Dongen with a hint of cynicism. Van Baarle also suffered a knock to his hip in that crash. However, Van Dongen doesn't blame his riders: "You can't ride in Waregem with seven men leading. I don't think we dropped the ball."

Visma | Lease a Bike forced to adjust after bad luck

From that moment, the group of seven from Visma | Lease a Bike in the fast-paced edition of the E3 Saxo Classic was reduced to six. Edoardo Affini was the man for the early hours, but adjustments were needed shortly after. Jan Tratnik had to start working earlier than expected, as he explained at the finish. "Things didn't go as planned, so I had to work earlier than intended in the first eighty kilometers," said the winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

From that moment, the group of seven from Visma | Lease a Bike in the fast-paced edition of the E3 Saxo Classic was reduced to six. Edoardo Affini was the man for the early hours, but adjustments were needed shortly after. Jan Tratnik had to start working earlier than expected, as he explained at the finish. "Things didn't go as planned, so I had to work earlier than intended in the first eighty kilometers," said the winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Heading to the first major checkpoint of the race - the Taaienberg - the team suffered another blow. Just kilometers before, Van Baarle had a puncture on the Kortekeer, effectively removing him from the front. "There was a lot of bad luck, which is unfortunate," Tratnik mentioned. "But we can't change it. There's nothing we can do, so we have no choice but to fight back. Before the Taaienberg, I dropped off Wout, which meant I couldn't keep up with the first group. But for the first race after the altitude camp, I think it was reasonably okay," said the Slovenian, whose race, like that of Hagenes, Affini, and Van Baarle, was essentially over after the Taaienberg.

Remaining were: Van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, and Tiesj Benoot. Van der Poel immediately unleashed his fury on the Taaienberg, making a statement, yet the trio from Visma | Lease a Bike were not far behind. Another team, Lidl-Trek, took the initiative with four riders. Jorgenson tried to anticipate, while Van Aert followed the trail of his rival Van der Poel. "It actually went quite well, but we couldn't capitalize on our planned numerical advantage," said the Belgian afterwards. "Due to all the bad luck, we couldn't follow our tactic, but everyone has their story."

Van Dongen drew a similar conclusion. "We wanted to win the race and send people ahead, but we had to adjust that plan right from the Taaienberg. By then, we had already lost some riders, and Mathieu was already showing his strength on the climb. The strongest won, but it doesn't always happen that way. We wanted to create a different race scenario, but you need the right riders in the group for that."

Van der Poel applies demolition tactics, but the turning point is Van Aert's fall

On the Boigneberg, VDP attacked again, with Jorgenson on his wheel. Van Aert closed the gap from behind, but had to put in a significant effort to reach the world champion from Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Soon after, the next major move by the Dutchman came - in response to Oier Lazkano - on the Stationsberg, but once again the group came back together. Except for Benoot, who by then had tumbled into a ditch along with Marc Hirschi (UAE-Team Emirates) and had to abandon. Jorgenson, the only remaining piece beside Van Aert: "We can call this a day of bad luck for the team. Along the way, we lost some key pieces, making us collectively weaker. We managed to rectify it by having Wout and myself in the lead group, but then came the turning point."

By turning point, the American meant the crash of Van Aert on the Paterberg, which in the E3 Saxo Classic - unlike the Tour of Flanders - comes before the Oude Kwaremont. VVan der Poel had attacked at the base when Van Aert, trailing just behind, ended up flat on his face on the cobblestones. "A blunder," the protagonist judged. "I fell because of my own mistake, making it a frustrating race for me, so this was the maximum I could achieve. Stefan Küng was ahead of me, and I tried to overtake him by jumping over the cobbles, but I fell. It was a really silly fall. I think the cobbles were also a bit wet, but still..." Van Aert sighed, disappointed with himself.

The Belgian proved he was fine after his fall, swiftly passing many cyclists, and then breaking away from the group - including teammate Jorgenson - on the Oude Kwaremont. "That fall was a pivotal moment for me, considering how the rest of the race unfolded. It took a lot of effort to fight my way back, and then I ended up chasing Mathieu alone. It seemed like we were on par for a while, but I couldn't bridge the gap. I thought I could do it, but after the Karnemelkbeekstraat, keeping the pace became tough."

Van der Poel offered a similar analysis. "Initially, Wout was riding defensively, which I thought was a pity. I heard he had fallen, but he still ended up behind me after the Kwaremont. I just kept pushing the wattages I could manage and maintained the upper hand. It's unfortunate for the race that Wout fell there, but I had already planned to attack, even though I felt a bit off my peak. I managed to push through on the Paterberg. After that, I rode as hard as I could. It was about gauging my effort as best as possible and not looking back. On the Karnemelkbeekstraat, I pushed hard one more time to break Wout," said the winner.

Van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike hope injuries are not major

"Mathieu was incredibly strong, something I had felt before. His attacks really hurt," Van Aert also acknowledged, seeing it as a do-or-die effort. "So I knew it would be hard to counter that. And in the end, I fell harder than I initially thought. I've got some pain in my hip and elbow; my right side is quite stiff. We'll have to check it out. I'm not sure if it will affect me. It hurts now, but I hope it heals quickly."

The other members of Visma | Lease a Bike share that hope. Jorgenson ultimately finished fifth. Off-camera, after crossing the finish line, the American also experienced a mishap as he crashed. "I was behind a rider from another team who swerved without looking, catching me off guard and causing me to fall. We were going at fifteen kilometers an hour, but it was still a shock," he told GCN.

In the end, they had to settle for third and fifth places, results other teams would "envy," according to Van Dongen. Jorgenson was just relieved to have reached the finish, while Van Aert was happy to secure a podium spot with Stuyven. "I started to feel very cold from hanging back. I tried to follow Jasper Stuyven, but my legs were done. Overall, I'm glad I could still contend for top places here. I'm looking forward to the upcoming classics, hoping we'll have better luck as a team," concluded the American.

As the team director, Van Dongen is tending to his riders' wounds, which had to be treated en masse after the race. "We'll assess the damage over the next few days. We've got a big puzzle to solve, but we have a strong squad. Still, it's disappointing because you always hope for the best-case scenario. This was a lot of bad luck, but again: we've experienced this before, even in the Tour. Now, it's about showing resilience and coming up with a solid plan for the other classics," he said after "Friday the 22nd" in Harelbeke.