Is Wout’s Ronde dream over? Disastrous crash takes out Flanders favourite Van Aert; Geraint Thomas says Quintana “shouldn’t be racing” after Nairo’s Catalunya tramadol spat with Poels; Mail meltdown (again) over bike lane markings + more on the live blog

In case you missed it from last night, a council in New Zealand has rejected a Staffordshire Bull Terrier owner’s attempt to overturn its ‘dangerous dog’ status – after they claimed that the otherwise “obedient” pet simply has “a problem” with bike saddlebags, which explains why he attacked two cyclists.

Read more: > Owner claims dangerous dog is triggered by bike saddlebags after “aggressive” pet attacks two cyclists, knocking one unconscious and biting another

So, who knew that spending all your time on a farm looking after animals could make you a better bike racer?

Well, that’s according to the latest UCI rankings – which have seen Thibaut Pinot rise three places up to 20th in the list of the top male pro cyclists in the world, while also making him the number one French rider on the planet… despite the mercurial French climber retiring almost six months ago.

Don’t believe me? Well, here’s the current UCI top 20:

No, Pinot isn’t getting extra points for getting up early to milk the cows – though there’s an idea to spice up the cobbled classics – he’s simply benefitting from the governing body’s rolling 52-week ranking system, which means that illness-stricken Christophe Laporte, who enjoyed a storming start to 2023, slips down to 35th overall and loses his French number one crown after losing the points he accumulated last March.

That also means Pinot will soon see the points he picked up at a number of French one-day races and the Tour de Romandie last April disappear into the ether, as he slides peacefully into idyllic rural retirement.

So drink in the last statistical remnants of Thibaut Pinot the elite bike racer while you can…

Alright, Phil, we get it, you won a lot of bike races, enough with the not so humble bragging…

And on that note, our Bike at Bedtime last night just so happened to feature a bike raced by Gilbert on the way to one of those era-defining classics successes – which the Belgian only mentions every once in a while, of course:

> Check out the Specialized Roubaix that Philippe Gilbert rode to Paris-Roubaix victory in 2019 

The often horrific state of the UK’s roads – and their disproportionate and hazardous impact on cyclists – is something we’ve covered frequently on road.cc over the years.

But, for all this country’s shoddy, crumbling, and downright dangerous infrastructure, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a hole quite as big as the one that caught out South African cyclist Ian Said during a Sunday club ride earlier this month:

Blimey.

The 60-year-old told the Citizen that he suffered a broken nose, “quite a lot” of bruising, and cuts after tumbling into the hole on the R23 Heidelberg Road near Brakpan, 20 miles east of Johannesburg, on 17 March.

The hole appears to have been carved out of the road as part of repair or maintenance work, with Said noting that it was angled in a way that the morning light made it “almost invisible”.

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport, which responsible for maintaining the R23, told a local newspaper that it would attend to the hole, but offered no explanation as to its origin or why it was left unattended.

In more bizarre PSPO news (there seems to be a new one every week this year), former MP Alan Amos, who also stood as a mayor and councillor in Worcester, has lashed out at the council’s decision not to extend a controversial Public Spaces Protection Order – brought in with the stated aim of tackling dangerous cycling in the city centre, as well as prohibiting the feeding of gulls – arguing that the decision will lead to a “free-for-all” for the city’s “vicious flying rats”.

“Vicious flying rats”? I know I’ve heard cyclists called a lot of things over the years, but that takes the biscuit… Oh, he was talking about the gulls? Ah, that makes a lot more sense.

Though to be fair, it turns out he wasn’t that complimentary about cyclists, either…

Read more: > Furious councillor claims “dangerous and selfish” cyclists and “vicious” gulls will take over city centre now controversial cycling ban removed

Franck Bonnamour, the first WorldTour rider to be flagged for biological passport anomalies in over a decade, has been dismissed by his Decathlon AG2R team, despite the French rider insisting that he’s innocent and that he will fight his case against the UCI.

At the start of February, cycling’s governing body announced that 28-year-old Bonnamour – who won the most combative award at the 2021 Tour de France while riding for B&B Hotels, following a series of attacking displays – has been “has been provisionally suspended in accordance with the UCI Anti-Doping Rules due to unexplained abnormalities in his Biological Passport”.

> Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider Franck Bonnamour provisionally suspended by UCI over “unexplained abnormalities” in biological passport

And this morning, Decathlon AG2R announced that they have terminated Bonnamour’s contract. Without going into any specifics, the team insisted that it “advocates the practice of cycling in accordance with stringent ethical rules”, and noted that Bonnamour’s suspension by the UCI “follows tests carried out before he joined the team on the 1st of January 2023”.

The French rider, who joined AG2R last season and whose sole professional victory came at La Polynormande in 2022 (though he did just miss out on a big win at Paris-Tours the previous autumn), raced once in 2024 for the team at the Tour Down Under, finishing 13th on stage two to Lobethal, though his immediate future – like so many biological passport cases before him – now appears to be defined by a potentially lengthy legal battle, as he maintains his innocence and denies he’s a doper.

Communiqué ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/etZTbo71jf

— Franck Bonnamour (@FranckBonnamour) March 26, 2024

In a social media post last night, confirming his dismissal from Decathlon AG2R, Bonnamour wrote: “I have always done my job respecting the rules that the UCI imposes on me. I have always complied, of course, with the numerous anti-doping controls that this sport has required of me for years. I have never used prohibited products or any blood manipulation.

“With the help of my lawyers and scientists, we’re working on my defence. I have always been an honest, upright, and clean racer and therefore cannot be accused of cheating.”

I regret to inform you all, the Daily Mail’s at it again.

Back in 2022, you may remember, everyone’s favourite (ahem) national newspaper and celebrity gossip site descended into meltdown after Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) Council painted a few bicycle symbols in the middle of lanes in the suburb of Boscombe.

> Bike lane meltdown: New road markings prompt Mail to ask, “is there any room left for cars?”

The symbols – which obviously provide little protection for people on bikes but nevertheless encourage them to adopt primary position while warning motorists of their potential presence – rather inevitably provoked a balanced, not at all over the top, response from a number of media outlets.

Mail Online, for example, described the lick of paint as “the latest move by the authorities to drive cars off the road” and asked, “Is there any room left for cars?” – in a town where drivers are known for parking along an entire cycle lane, naturally.

> “Frustrating” cycle lane parking getting worse, says councillor – in town where Daily Mail claimed motorists were being driven “off the road”

And now, the Mail are frothing once again after similar signs appeared on Boscombe’s Windham Road this week.

“There are no cycle lanes on this road. These signs are very confusing and all they are going to do is bring conflict between motorists and cyclists,” one (helpfully) unnamed resident told MailOnline.

“They look like they are telling road users that this road is a cycle route and cyclists have priority. It also looks like they are encouraging cyclists to use the whole road.”

Furious locals slam council for randomly painting more than a dozen ‘confusing’ bike signs on street with no cycle lane https://t.co/40Hu4ANJff pic.twitter.com/3hRuXwDPOl

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 26, 2024

But while the headline promised tales from “furious” locals, it appears other named residents were just a bit baffled by the markings.

“There’s no bike lane and cars don’t speed down the road because of the speed humps so they are a bit redundant,” said bank worker Phil Mountford.

“The council is apparently cash-strapped and things like this probably explain why. Not far from here there are some dreadful potholes, which are worse for cyclist safety.”

“I am a cyclist and my 12-year-old son cycles to school on the road every day,” added Sonia. “It is a busy road and if the signs warn other road users then it is a good thing for safety.

“But I still think they are random and there are potholes which endanger cyclists I would prefer the money to be spent on. I suppose it is cheaper for the council to paint some signs than actually fix them.”

Meanwhile, a BCP Council spokesperson noted – again – that the markings are a “safety feature that act as a visual reminder to drivers that cyclists may be using this road”.

“The work cost between £1,000 and £1,500 with money provided from a central government fund specifically ringfenced for active travel facilities,” they said.

“White cycle markings are in use on other roads in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area and will continue to be considered as a safety feature where appropriate.”

Alright, Mail Online, that’s enough for now – same again in 2026?

🇧🇪 #DDV24

Wout has done so many races in his life, but… 🔫💥😱 pic.twitter.com/2Mhl5k52cG

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 27, 2024

Not going to lie, this was me at the start of every single track race at last year’s world championships in Glasgow. Every single one.

So, thanks Julian and Wout (who literally spends his winters sprinting at the sound of a gun) for making me feel slightly better about my shredded nerves and embarrassing jumpiness.

I hope all those who laughed at me in the press box feel good about themselves now…

With electronic gears now more affordable than ever and trickling down to third and fourth tier groupsets in the big brands’ ranges, even more riders have been won over by electronic in recent years… but what’s the advantage over mechanical gears, and how do they work?

Check out our guide to know to get the best out of your electronic groupset, or help you decide if it’s time to make the switch if you’re still unsure.

> Complete guide to electronic gears: Your bike’s shifting, indexing, and charging explained

It’s Nairo-bashing week in the pro cycling podcast world, it seems.

After Wout Poels recounted his fiery confrontation with Quintana on the roads of Catalunya, Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe – no strangers to stirring the pot or indulging in some tongue-in-cheek analysis – offered their own take on the controversial Colombian.

> “Remco hates Jumbo, and Jumbo hates Remco… You should hear what Roglič says about Remco. So that’s not going to work, is it?” Geraint Thomas questions ‘Soudal-Visma’ merger plans

During yesterday’s episode of the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast, the two Ineos riders were asked for their picks for May’s Giro d’Italia, an obvious question that prompted an obvious answer: Tadej Pogačar, of course.

As the pair strained for any other possible pink jersey contenders (excluding Thomas himself, of course), Quintana’s name popped up in the conversation.

“He shouldn’t even be racing,” Thomas said.

“I know,” concurred Rowe. “Little f***ing rat.”

That rather blunt assessment did elicit some laughs, so it’s hard to tell how serious the Welsh duo are, but still, shots fired.

Probably best to stick to the audio books this week, Nairo…

It’s fair to say that Nairo Quintana’s return to European racing this season, after a year-long exile in Colombia following his positive test for tramadol at the 2022 Tour de France, has been a fairly anonymous one so far.

In October, the Giro and Vuelta winner announced his surprise return to Movistar – where he enjoyed a glorious eight-year spell between 2012 and 2019 – after spending a year in the wilderness following his disqualification from the 2022 Tour.

The 33-year-old’s sixth place was stripped from the record books after two doping tests revealed the use of the painkiller tramadol, which is banned in-competition by the UCI but does not result in a doping ban, and subsequently saw him dismissed by Arkéa Samsic, the French team he joined from Movistar in 2020 and with which he also endured some patchy form and a few hotel raids by authorities.

> Nairo Quintana sanctioned by UCI for Tour de France tramadol infringement

The Prodigal Son’s results since returning to his spiritual home at Movistar haven’t been anything to write home about, however, with Quintana ambling rather anonymously around his home tour before finishing 18th on the Valter 2000 summit finish at the Volta a Catalunya, his best result at the week-long stage race (where, to be fair, he was riding in support of leader Enric Mas) before packing it in during the final day’s circuits around Barcelona.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Nairo Quintana (@nairoquincoficial)

But one particular incident from last week’s Volta showed the Colombian climber still has plenty of fight left in him – and that the peloton won’t let him forget the reasons for his exile in a hurry, too.

Speaking on the In Koers podcast he hosts with Visma-Lease a Bike rider Dylan van Baarle, Bahrain Victorious veteran Wout Poels, who finished 11th overall at the Volta and took fourth on the Port Ainé summit finish, recalled an unsavoury incident with Quintana as the pair battled for position on one of the race’s crucial climbs.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“We rode on a final climb and I felt good. I wanted to move up, to be close to Tadej Pogačar, but no one let me in between. So I decided to ride behind Enric Mas, next to Quintana,” Poels said.

“Maybe that’s annoying for him, but I wasn’t riding so close to him that I tried to push him away. At one point he elbowed me, and I got into an argument with him.

“I jokingly said that he was definitely on tramadol again, which is why he was immediately acting so aggressive. I think he understood me.

“Afterwards I thought maybe I shouldn’t have said it. But he himself was stupid enough to use it in the Tour de France.”

During the podcast, former Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Tour de France stage winner Poels also recalled another confrontation with Quintana’s Movistar teammate (and Poels’ own former colleague) Iván García Cortina, who the 36-year-old Dutchman says punched him before a technical descent.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Movistar Team (@movistar_team)

“On the penultimate day, there was a technical descent in the course after thirteen kilometres,” Poels said. “Everyone wants to sit in the front, so it was crowded.

“Then Iván Cortina from Movistar intervened just before the top. He sat up and delivered a punch to my upper arm. My upper arms aren’t that developed though, and he hit me really hard and it hurt quite a bit.

“So, I then had a big argument with him. I asked why he did that. He said it’s always the same song with me. But I never ride uphill with him, because he has usually already ridden down it.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

He continued: “I didn’t want to let him get away with that. We talk a lot with [riders’ union] the CPA about the safety of cycling.

“We often criticise organisers because the courses are not safe and then you have a rider who just really throws a punch. That is not possible.

“After the finish I went to see the UCI and they have a VAR. I made an official complaint there, because several riders saw it. But he got away with a very small fine of 300 Swiss Francs and some UCI points deduction. That was a bit disappointing to me.

“I thought he would come to say sorry, but I didn’t see him. A truly sad figure.”

So, there were things going on at the Volta a Catalunya while Pogačar was busy destroying the race – who knew?

> CyclingMikey says cyclists breaking rules are “annoying”, but not focusing on drivers to improve road safety the “wrong way round”

Caída de los grandes favoritos (Van Aert, Pedersen, Philipsen) en #DDV24. El compañero del Visma enseguida se lleva la mano a la cabeza. Todos ellos fuera de juego para la victoria. pic.twitter.com/MajxddtNl4

— Iker Gallastegi (antes @ikguallas) (@ikgallas) March 27, 2024

I think we might be talking about this one for a long time to come…

It’s important to note that while much of the response to today’s crash will focus on Wout van Aert – the latest in a seemingly endless run of bad luck for Visma-Lease a Bike over the last few weeks – Jasper Stuyven’s injuries will prove a bitter blow for a Lidl-Trek team in imperious form and looking the most capable challengers to Mathieu van der Poel.

And that’s before we even get onto how the crash has affected Lidl-Trek leader Mads Pedersen himself, despite the 2019 world champion managing to get back on his bike.

Bike racing in Flanders, bloody hell.

#DDVmen #DDV24 Mads and Alex both got back on their bikes but we’ve gotten the update that Alex has since abandoned the race 😢🥺

Jappe was taken to hospital for further checks 💔 https://t.co/zFuij2pSX7

— Lidl-Trek (@LidlTrek) March 27, 2024

Meanwhile, Intermarché-Wanty have also announced that Biniam Girmay, who headed into the cobbled classics with high hopes after a frustrating 2023, is also on the way to hospital for checks: 

😰 Biniam Girmay crashed hard during Dwars door Vlaanderen and is heading to hospital for checks. We keep you informed. #DDV24 pic.twitter.com/2Z0d0NuKGb

— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) March 27, 2024

She may be currently racing for the strongest team in the world at Dwars door Vlaanderen right now – where a mechanical has ruled her out of contention – but 2023 Tour de France Femmes Demi Vollering won’t be racing for SD Worx Protime after 2024, team boss Danny Stam confirmed today.

The news comes after world champion Lotte Kopecky signed a four-year contract extension with the team last month, with Stam telling GCN that Vollering’s exit – set to take place when her contract expires at the end of the year – is down purely to budget.

(Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com)

“Everyone knows that Lotte has signed until 2028 and we’ve tried hard to keep the team but for Demi, I don’t think that it’s an option for us,” Stam said.

When asked if Vollering is set to leave the team, the DS responded: “Yes, that’s definitely sure. It’s about budget. You need to make a choice, and at one moment things can go away but I think it’s clear that we can’t have two riders from that level in our team.”

However, following Stam’s comments, SD Worx released a statement that appears to pin the blame for the Tour winner’s exit on Vollering herself.

“We made Demi Vollering a generous offer and indicated that this should be responded to before a certain date,” team manager Erwin Janssen said.

“Vollering’s management did not respond to this. Therefore, we assume that Vollering will leave the team at the end of the year. The report in the media that we recently sat down with Demi or her management is not true.”

As the plot thickens, cue the mad dash for Vollering’s signature…

🇧🇪 #DDV24

Victory 2⃣5⃣0⃣ on the road. 😳

Simply 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/T6cVDRSRzX

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women (@visma_lab_women) March 27, 2024

So, you’re Marianne Vos, you’re 36, and you’ve basically won everything there is to win during one of the greatest cycling careers ever, as a new generation emerges at the top of the sport.

What do you do? Well, you go and win races you’ve never won before to take your tally to 250 UCI road race victories, of course.

After winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the first time last month, the legendary Dutch rider outsprinted Lidl-Trek’s own multi-disciplinary star Shirin van Anrooij to secure her maiden Dwars door Vlaanderen after the pair escaped from an elite leading group in the closing stages of the Flemish semi-classic.

This is what happened in the men’s race ahead to cause the neutralisation and shortening of the women’s Dwars Door Vlaanderen#DDV24 #DDVwomen pic.twitter.com/SqBl6nT3On

— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) March 27, 2024

This being the 2024 edition of Dwars door, something unusual and chaotic was bound to happen – and with the bunch fracturing with 50km to go, the race was temporarily neutralised following an awful looking collision between a Soudal-Quick Step team car and a medical vehicle on the road ahead during the men’s race.

Riders finding novel ways to keep warm while the race was neutralised 🫂👮#DDV24 | @RolandCycling pic.twitter.com/tuBpbph3cF

— Eurosport (@eurosport) March 27, 2024

With the race back underway, and the riders suitably warmed up, an elite group of five, including Lidl-Trek’s Van Anrooij and Elisa Longo Borghini, Letizia Paternoster, Puck Pieterse, and Vos, forged clear.

One glaring omission from that group was, of course, SD Worx, the peloton’s dominant team. And with the departing Demi Vollering foiled by a puncture, world champion Lotte Kopecky was forced to bridge across solo.

However, with SD Worx remaining firmly on the backfoot, despite Kopecky’s obvious strength, Lidl-Trek took advantage of a once in a blue moon opportunity to assert their numerical advantage by sending cyclocross star Van Anrooij up the road.

Marianne Vos wins Dwars Door Vlaanderen!

You never see wasted effort from Marianne Vos, she marks the right moves when she has to and didn’t hesitate with the others when Van Anrooij attacked today (great ride from her too!)#DDV24 #DDVwomen pic.twitter.com/kZwP4ddcDk

— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) March 27, 2024

The tactics may have been spot on, but with the ever alert Vos quickly on her wheel, the 22-year-old was destined to be a lamb to the slaughter in the sprint (a doomed attempt to bridge to the front by Longo Borghini evidence of the team’s acceptance of that physical reality), and so it proved – Vos adding another historic line to her British Library-sized collection of successes, as an impressive Paternoster rounded off the podium by surprisingly beating Kopecky in the sprint for third.

The Ronde could be interesting…

> Mark Cavendish rocks up at Isle of Man road race and finishes 29th

🇧🇪 #DDV24

🏆🥇 pic.twitter.com/hd98qIbIyD

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 27, 2024

On a day that initially seemed to sound a death knell for Visma-Lease a Bike’s classics hopes for 2024, after Wout van Aert was left distraught on the tarmac, the Dutch team proved they’ve still got plenty of firepower over the cobbles, as Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson took advantage of Visma’s numerical superiority to solo to victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, another win in what has been a stunning breakthrough season for the American.

The chaos of that race and possibly season-defining crash with 70km to go, rather inevitably, resulted in more chaos, as the race’s narrative up to that point – dominated by the two super teams, Visma and Lidl-Trek – was thrown out the window.

By the closing stages, an aggressive Alberto Bettiol looked the strongest of a group that had filtered clear, including Stefan Küng, Josh Tarling, Jonas Abrahamsen, and Visma teammates Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot.

CRAMPS for Bettiol! Not the first time this happens to him in a race. #DDV24 pic.twitter.com/CrS8fj0t5k

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 27, 2024

However, in keeping with the race’s chaotic nature, Bettiol followed up a piercing attack on the Nokereberg with an abrupt challenge-ending bout of cramp. 

The Italian dispatched, Visma then made their numbers count with seven kilometres to go, as Jorgenson forged clear to become the first American winner of the Flemish semi-classic, bolstering his credentials as both an elite stage racer and classics contender, with Abrahamsen mopping up an impressive second ahead of Küng.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson is victorious at Dwars door Vlaanderen!!! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Go1Uyyd72u

— Eurosport (@eurosport) March 27, 2024

“This whole season’s been a dream, it’s a bit surreal really. It’s been an insane season, I really can’t believe it,” 24-year-old Jorgenson, who beat Remco Evenepoel to win Paris-Nice earlier this month, said at the finish.

Reflecting on the crash that brought down team leader Van Aert, along with Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, and Biniam Girmay, the American said: “I was on Wout’s wheel at the time. It was just before the Kanarieberg, obviously a decisive moment in the race, but it was just a racing incident.

“We had two lead out trains, Trek and us, we came together – Wout and Alex Kirsch came together – and it was a really ugly fall.

“I saw the whole thing and I knew Wout was going to be out of the race at that point, we were going so fast.

“Tiesj [Benoot] and I continued with the plan, there was still a bike race, but my thoughts are with Wout and all the other guys involved.”

When asked if he could end up as Visma’s leader at the Tour of Flanders this Sunday, Jorgenson replied: “I hope that’s not the case. I hope everyone’s good and we’ll assess that later.”

In news everyone was fearing since this afternoon’s shocking crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Visma-Lease a Bike have confirmed that Wout van Aert will miss the rest of the spring classics campaign after breaking his collarbone and several ribs.

Update Wout van Aert:

Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today.

A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital. It is unclear how long his recovery will take. He will definitely miss the Tour…

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 27, 2024

“Unfortunately, Wout van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen today,” the team said in a statement.

“A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital. It is unclear how long his recovery will take. He will definitely miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and the Amstel Gold Race. We wish Wout all the best and a speedy recovery!”

The realisation that Van Aert’s classics season is over will be a particularly jarring one for the Belgian, who gambled on being in top condition for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, choosing to miss Milan-Sanremo to head to altitude to hone his form for his major spring objectives at the cobbled monuments, race he’s still yet to add to his palmares.

Lidl-Trek have also confirmed that Jasper Stuyven is out of the Ronde with a broken collarbone, though Mads Pedersen’s condition remains unknown.

Good news 🍀
Biniam Girmay and Laurenz Rex did not sustain any facture following their crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen #DDV24 pic.twitter.com/xzHmuKuAXU

— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) March 27, 2024

In better news, Intermarché-Wanty revealed this afternoon that Biniam Girmay and Laurenz Rex did not break anything in the crash, and should be fit to start the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

Damn.

Usually the final tune-up and form indicator ahead of the Tour of Flanders, this afternoon’s Dwars door Vlaanderen has instead been the sight of what already looks likely to be the most disastrous and consequential crash of the 2024 cycling season.

With around 70km left, a main chasing group containing all of the favourites – and most of the big names aiming to win the Ronde and Paris-Roubaix over the next two weekends – appeared to fall victim to a gust of wind, leading to a touch of wheels and a nasty collision that brought down Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, and Jasper Stuyven.

While Gent-Wevelgem winner Pedersen is back on his bike, his in-form Lidl-Trek teammate Stuyven was last seen being consoled and ready to depart in an ambulance, while Girmay looked to be holding his shoulder in pain.

Van Aert, meanwhile, looked to be one of the worst affected, staying on the ground after ripping his jersey almost completely, his Flanders and Roubaix dreams devastatingly up in smoke for another year.

I’ll say it again – damn.