Cycling: in addition to several fractures, Van Aert suffers from a bruised lung

Belgian Wout van Aert, victim of fractures to his collarbone, sternum and several ribs after his terrible fall in Across Flanders ten days ago, also suffers from a contusion to a lung, his team said on Friday. “Wout also has a bruised lung. A scan will take place in a few weeks. We will then know what it really is. This makes it difficult to breathe. Such a thing recovers over time but it is obvious that he is in pain,” explained Merijn Zeeman, technical director of Visma-Lease a Bike during a press point two days before Paris-Roubaix.

Regarding the rest of his injuries, Van Aert is “recovering faster than expected”. “He’s already walking a little. We had contact this (Friday) morning. I'm surprised at how quickly he's recovering. When I see how this terrible burn on his back is healing, you see that they are very special athletes,” Zeeman added. The latter refused to give a return date to competition for the rider who planned to run the Tour of Italy in May.

His teammate and leader in the stage races, Jonas Vingegaard, himself seriously injured after a fall this week at the Tour of the Basque Country, would prefer to see him in the Tour de France which Van Aert had initially given up this year. The Belgian should decide based on his main objective for the summer: obtaining medals at the Paris Olympics in the road race and the time trial. Van Aert had fallen heavily 67 km from the finish of Across Flanders after hitting a teammate's wheel at very high speed in the supposedly dangerous descent leading to the foot of the Kanarieberg.