Wout van Aert regrets his 'blunder' in E3 Saxo Classic: "It turns into an annoying race for me"

Wout van Aert showed he was strong as an ox on his return to racing, but just as the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike seemed poised to battle Mathieu van der Poel for the win, he suddenly found himself on the ground in the E3 Saxo Classic. "Stupid," he says of it, making it clear that the crash on the cobbles had an impact.

"I fell due to my own mistake, which obviously made the race frustrating for me, so this was the maximum I could achieve. Stefan Küng was in front of me, and I tried to pass him by jumping over the cobbles, but I fell. It was a very stupid crash. I think the cobbles were a bit wet, but still… a blunder," he recounted.

"For me, that fall was decisive, considering how the rest of the race unfolded. It took a lot of effort to fight my way back, and then I ended up alone behind Mathieu. For a while, it seemed like we were even, but I couldn't close the gap. I thought I could, but after the Karnemelkbeekstraat, when there was still a gap, it was hard to maintain the pace," Van Aert analyzes openly and honestly. "After that, I was able to keep a reasonably good pace for a while, but eventually, it got tough. It was worth trying, but he was the strongest."

"It was a very tough race, as always where the pace is intense early in the race. As a team, we had some bad luck; we ultimately wanted to get some guys in front. I wanted to follow Mathieu and the other favorites, which actually went quite well. But we couldn't exploit our numerical advantage as we would have liked," he explains, referring to the bruised Visma | Lease a Bike. "We lost Per Strand Hagenes in that first big crash, and I think Tiesj Benoot, who was well-positioned in the race, also crashed. Dylan Van Baarle then had bad luck at a bad moment, but everyone has their story. In that respect, luck wasn't on our side, so we couldn't execute our strategy. But that's just how it is."

Van Aert describes the fall, and the consequences

The Belgian seemed poised to secure second place with a substantial lead over the chasing group, but Jasper Stuyven from Lidl-Trek caught up with him. "Towards the end, I was running out of steam. I was glad Jasper caught up, so I could draft off him to the finish line. Third place was the best I could achieve. I felt good, but Mathieu was also very strong. His attacks really hurt," he summarized in a single sentence.

Reflecting on the crash, it was clear Van Aert was intent on keeping pace with Van der Poel. While Van der Poel navigated through the grass verge, Van Aert attempted to transition back from the verge to the cobblestones. "It was a mistake. My intention was to hop onto the cobbles to gain some positions, but it seems my wheel got snagged on the curb." Post-crash, Van Aert had to quickly fix his chain and make his way from the pack to the front, though the chase for victory was effectively over. "Mathieu was in formidable form, a fact I had sensed earlier on. So I was aware that challenging him would be a tall order." Van Aert also acknowledged feeling the physical toll of his tumble later in the race. "I hit the ground harder than I initially realized. I’m dealing with some discomfort in my hip and elbow; my right side is noticeably stiff. That's something we'll need to assess. I'm not sure if it will impact my future races. It hurts now, but I'm hopeful it’ll heal quickly."

We certainly won't see Van Aert stepping in for Hagenes or Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem. "I definitely won't be racing on Sunday. I'm going to rest and then start on Wednesday. Also, because I'm currently in some pain."