Jayco AlUla's Amaury Capiot suffered a catastrophic rear wheel failure today during the elite men's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which was won by Mathieu van der Poel.
Images surfaced of Capiot holding his Giant Propel race bike with the tyre completely off the rim, revealing the internal liner. The carbon fibre rim appeared to have failed and the spokes had all ripped out of the hub, which was still clamped into the rear of the frame.
No footage of the incident has appeared, and it's currently unclear at which point in the race the incident took place.
Capiot appeared unhurt and eventually finished the race in 96th position. A spokesperson from Jayco Alula also confirmed that he was thankfully uninjured in the incident.
Capiot's rear wheel failure left the hub still clamped in the frame (Image credit: Tim de Waele / Staff)
Cyclingnews reached out to the team for a statement on the cause of the failure. A spokesperson for the team said that Capiot's wheel failure was the result of riding for too long on the cobbles with a flat tyre after puncturing.
They explained that due to the chaotic nature of the classics, it can take a while for a team car to reach riders that need service and that Capiot attempted to go for as long as he could, which ultimately caused the wheel to fail.
Capiot appeared to be using Cadex Ultra 50 hookless wheels and Cadex Aero Cotton tubeless tyres with a tyre liner.
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Hookless tyres and wheels rely on a tight fit between the tubeless tyre bead and the rim's sidewall. The technology has drawn criticism over the past few years due to several race incidents in which tubeless tyres have detached from wheel rims.
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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