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Mathieu van der Poel ends season with high-speed crash at Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne

Wind wreaks havoc as Belgian one day race splits into echelons and Dutch star ends up in ditch

Mathieu van der Poel Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne Photo by: Twitter
October 21, 2020
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Mathieu van der Poel made it to 16 km from the finish of Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne, but no farther. Instead, the Dutch champion crashed out of the race, unintentionally pushed into a road side ditch while trying to move up the outside of the lead group.

While van der Poel appears to be all right, it is an unceremonious end to his road season just days after winning his first Monument at Tour of Flanders.

Wind decisive factor in Belgian one-day race

Wind was a deciding factor Wednesday, both in the race and in van der Poel’s crash. While wind often features in the Belgian race, the rescheduled late-October date faced especially strong gusts. Enough so that race organizers shortened the event to create a safer finish.

The race quickly broke apart, with the peloton forming into echelons and spreading out on the narrow roads. Van der Poel was in a leading group with two Alpecin-Fenix teammates going into the final kilometers. The Dutch national champion looked to be working for his teammates, Tim Merier and Jonas Rickaert, to thank them for their efforts in his Flanders win.

While attempting to move forward, van der Poel tried to squeeze into a narrow space on the left-hand shoulder of the road. He can be seen bumping with another rider as wind continues to buffet the group. The next time he appears on camera, he is tumbling in the ditch, with his bike bouncing metres behind him.

Van der Poel’s eventual crash came just 17 km after another very near miss, for him and teammate Tim Merlier. As the gusting winds pushed the lead group across the road, MvdP’s wheel nearly gets taken out. The Dutch champ recovers, but wobbles into the rider next to him. This causes a cascade of movement across the road, which Merlier ends up on the wrong side of. A very high-speed wobble sees Merlier sitting on his top tube, but somehow still upright and able to continue the race.

Shaken, but otherwise healthy

After his own crash van der Poel did not immediately move. He eventually stirred, but seemed unstable and was helped out of the ditch by his team director, Christoph Roodhooft and other staff. An ambulance was refused, and MvdP rode to the finish in an Alpecin-Fenix team car. HLN reports the Dutch star did complain of headaches and nausea, but did not visit the hospital. The team doctor diagnosed a mild concussion, and will follow up on Thursday.

Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne was already intended to be van der Poel’s last race of the road season before switching to cyclocross. That is certain now, though not under conditions MvdP or the team would have liked.

Deceuninck-Quick Step 1-2

While van der Poel’s race ended unexpectedly, the lead group continued on towards the finish. With four riderd in the small lead group, Deceuninck-Quick Step had strength in numbers. Yves Lampaert attacked the group, winning by 22 seconds. Lampaert’s teammate Tim Declercq gave the Deceuninck-Quick Step a one-two finish to end their classic season. Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix teammate Tim Merlier finished third.