Herentals (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Cyclist Wout van Aert broke his ankle at the Zilvermeercross and ended his season, while the 300-member Herentals supporters club, led by Peter Van Echelpoel, may cancel their Belgian Championships trip.
As VRT News reported, cyclist Wout Wouter Beke Newsvan Aert suffered a serious injury during the Zilvermeercross in Mol. The Herentals rider crashed yesterday, Jan 2, 2025, and broke his ankle, ending his cyclocross season early.
He had surgery today, Jan 3, 2025, which was successful. The injury is a major setback for the Belgian cyclist, who has been one of the top riders in cyclocross and road cycling over the past few years.
What impact will Wout van Aert’s Zilvermecross injury have on Herentals supporters?
Officials mentioned that the news has hit his fans hard, especially the 300-member supporter club from Herentals. Club members expressed disappointment and concern over Van Aert’s injury.
“The sporting consequences are once again enormous for Wout,”
says board member Peter Van Echelpoel.
“But it’s also a disappointment for us as supporters.”
“It seems like he has more bad luck than others.”
Peter Van Echelpoel, supporter of Wout van Aert
Peter, a member of Wout van Aert’s supporters’ club from Herentals, was not at the Zilvermeercross in Mol yesterday, Jan 2, 2025, but saw the crash on TV.
“I was watching TV at home because bad weather was forecast. I saw Mathieu van der Pol slide a bit, and a little later, Wout fell. You could see blood on his knee right away. At that moment, I already thought: better get off, because the consequences could be serious,”
Peter recounts.
The club had been preparing for the Belgian Cyclocross Championship in Beringen next weekend.
“All the preparatory work has been for nothing,”
Peter said, talking about organising the bus and arranging everything at short notice. The club had wanted to make the championship a real celebration with fun and excitement. After Van Aert’s injury, the supporters’ club is now thinking about cancelling the bus trip.
“Yesterday, he was doing so well. In the beginning, you still hope it won’t be too bad, and you wait to see what happens. But as a supporter, it’s not pretty to see. It seems like he’s having more bad luck than others,”
laments supporter Peter.Wout van Aert has suffered crashes before in his cyclocross career, though serious injuries are rare. He experienced a crash at the Superprestige event in Middelkerke, Belgium, in December 2020 due to some slick track conditions. That crash resulted in several cuts and bruises for him, prompting him to pull out of the race himself.
The Cyclocross World Cup event held in Namur, Belgium, in January 2018 was another crash due to his own fall; that crash resulted in a few minor injuries, which delayed his training.
