Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 4:31 PM
For several favorites, Dwars door Vlaanderen ended prematurely due to a heavy crash. Wout van Aert and Jasper Stuyven, among others, had to abandon the fight after they crashed hard on the descent towards the Kanarieberg. A dangerous point, many riders said less than a week ago. They did this in a survey The Latest News.
The riders were asked what the most dangerous passage/descent is in the Flemish spring. Van Aert first mentioned the descent from the Paterberg, but also the descent to the Kanarieberg and Oude Kwaremont. “Mainly because of the drumming of the riders,” he explained. “In general, the organizers of the Flemish classics do the maximum to guarantee safety, for example by removing flower boxes. In terms of prevention, these are the safest races available.”
Stress moment
Stuyven, also one of the major victims of the fall in Dwars door Vlaanderen, also mentioned the descent to the Kanarieberg. “Always a stressful moment. The peloton is often still large and there is a lot of dirt and gravel on the side of the road surface.”
Furthermore, Jasper Philipsen, Jasper De Buyst, Brent Van Moer, Gianni Vermeersch and Tiesj Benoot also started the descent to the Kanarieberg. “But in the Tour of Flanders they have changed the run-up towards that slope from this year onwards. A positive evolution,” said the latter.
Adjusted route Tour of Flanders
Benoot was referring to the fact that the Kortekeer and Kanarieberg have been removed from the route of the Tour of Flanders. This was done to make the race more interesting, but also for safety reasons. “There is a direction along which we have to go to the Kanarieberg,” race director Scott Sunderland recently explained to Het Laatste Nieuws. “That goes downhill and the peloton reaches a speed of 90 km/h. Whereupon the road narrows from three lanes to one. When you talk about safety, you have to look at it seriously.”
Tags: Van Aert Stuyven pointed danger descending Kanarieberg stressful moment
