🎥 Van Aert deserves statue in Evenepoel's home, but unshown crash in finale ruins own medal

"Misjudged a turn," echoed national coach Sven Vanthourenhout, after the finish at Sporza. "Probably he could have still sprinted for bronze, but we came here to win and not to go for a medal. Winning was at the top and we did that."

Sporza searched for and found evidence after the fact about a late fall. Obviously, shortly after, video footage surfaced on X. In the footage, Van Aert comes out of a right turn way too hard, sending him into the fences. With a bloodied elbow, he eventually crossed the line 3:47 minutes from Evenepoel. He did congratulate his compatriot afterwards, donning a big smile.

The late crash was not so bad for Belgium, but for Van Aert himself it was undoubtedly a big disappointment. After his bronze medal in the time trial, he would have undoubtedly wanted to go for bronze in a sprint from the chasing group. And that after a race in which Van Aert quickly pushed aside his self-interest, with a defensive style of racing to fight off top favorite Van der Poel. Twice, the Dutchman attacked and both times Van Aert was on his wheel: the first time with Evenepoel having been dropped, the second time with Evenepoel in winning position in front.

"We saw a fantastic Belgian team, both Wout, certainly Tiesj, and also Jasper. They more than did their job," Evenepoel's parents said about Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot and Jasper Stuyven after the race. For good reason. National coach Sven Vanthourenhout revealed to Wielerflits that Van Aert himself came up with the idea of covering Van der Poel. "Nobody, but nobody in the world can ride up a slope like Montmartre like Mathieu. He is a phenomenal athlete who can put in an effort that everyone normally sits down to. We talked about that at length. Wout said, "I'm going to try, I have nothing to lose. I'm the only one of the four who should be able to do that, or at least come close. So I'll take the responsibility to do that".'