Wout van Aert: Puncture sapped all the power I needed in the final

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) E3 Classic 2021
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) E3 Saxo Bank Classic (Image credit: Getty Images)

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) paid the price of the fight back from a puncture in the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, coming up empty on the Tiegemberg and delivering his first one-day road race result outside the top ten in more than a year. 

The 26 year old attacked from a group of chasers with about 20 kilometres to go in the Flemish race but firstly he couldn’t shake constant rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) from his wheel and then when the Dutch cyclist went on with it, Van Aert quickly went from being at the front of the group on the Tiegemberg – also known as Vossenhol – to out the back. 

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