Wout van Aert almost bit it hard in Paris-Roubaix recon

Yikes! Team Visma – Lease a Bike were doing a last-minute Paris-Roubaix recon when team leader Wout van Aert nearly crashed on the pavé.

During his ride through the iconic Trouée d’Arenberg, a drone captured the moment he narrowly avoided disaster after puncturing. The dramatic footage, first shared by Het Laatste Nieuws, shows the Belgian’s close call on the sport’s most legendary cobbles.

Van Aert is chasing a big result on Sunday, with pressure mounting from both the media and himself.

He’s come close to winning the Hell of the North twice, finishing second in 2022 and third in 2023. In 2024, it was a major goal—but another crash, this time at Dwars door Vlaanderen, derailed his Classics season.

In the 2025 edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen, Visma – Lease a Bike squandered a golden opportunity, with three of the four riders in the break: Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Jorgenson, and van Aert were alongside EF Education-EasyPost’s Neilson Powless. Instead of taking turns attacking Powless to wear him down, they dragged him to the line.

“I’m fully responsible for this loss,” van Aert said.

Derek Gee on his absolutely unforgettable first Paris-Roubaix

He admitted he cramped in the sprint and let ego get in the way. “I wanted the victory too badly. Early in the final, I told them I wanted a ride to the sprint and that I’d win. The DS in the car agreed because I was so adamant. When I failed, it was 100 per cent my fault.”

Since then, Visma management has said they should have shut that idea down and stuck with the textbook approach that usually works.

Thankfully, van Aert came out of today’s crash unscathed and looks to be in good form—and with good confidence—for a big ride on Sunday.

You can watch Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Saturday and the men’s Paris-Roubaix on Sunday at Flobikes.com.