Van der Poel involved in major crash at Tour of Flanders, UAE team severely affected

Just before Van der Poel's crash, there was a major crash involving Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Dstny) and Jhonathan Narváez of UAE. Shortly after, Van der Poel crashed 130 kilometers from the finish. Due to the high level of nervousness in the peloton, many riders crashed on the left side of the road. Van der Poel was involved with several riders. Tim Wellens was also among them, which was another blow for Tadej Pogacar's team.

At first glance, the former world champion did not appear to have suffered any major damage, and he was soon back on his bike. But he was forced to chase hard, as Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had just put the peloton into a higher gear. With the help of his teammates, Van der Poel managed to catch up with the peloton again with 120 kilometers to go – shortly after the Eikenberg.

Whereas Van der Poel could continue, John Degenkolb could not. The experienced German from Team Picnic PostNL was affected so badly that he had to abandon the race.