Wout van Aert has a wild ride during Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance - Video

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Belgian suffers a puncture and nearly crashes in the Arenberg Forest

Wout van Aert stopped along the walking path in the Arenberg forest after puncturing
Wout van Aert looking down at his flat tyre during the reconnaissance of the track ahead of this year's Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)

Wout van Aert completed his Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance on Thursday, riding 130 kilometres from the start of the first sector of pavé in Troisville to sector 11 in Mons-en-Pévèle. The Belgian had a wild ride on the Arenberg Forest sector, nearly crashing after suffering a puncture.

Luckily, Van Aert has excellent bike handling skills and managed to use a cyclocross-style kick-push to right himself and veer off of the pavé and onto the walking path before rolling to a stop.

Two camera motorbikes followed Van Aert during his trip through the Trouée. A longer video posted on Het Laatste Nieuws showed Van Aert had suffered a front tyre puncture.

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The rest of Van Aert's pre-ride appeared to go to plan. A Strava file from the ride posted on Thursday showed that he did not go over the pavé sectors at full gas pace, unlike Tadej Pogačar, who set Strava records across several Paris-Roubaix sectors last week.

Van Aert's time on the Mons-en-Pévèle sector was 38 seconds slower than Pogačar's, and he was 41 seconds slower over a segment including the Auchy to Bersée sector.

Laura Weislo
Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.

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