Bruyneel sees silver lining of ankle fracture Van Aert: 'Guarantee that we are going to see a top Wout van Aert in the Tour'

Oh dear... once again, Wout van Aert has been struck by cruel luck. The Belgian crashed during the Zilvermeercross in Mol and fractured his ankle. His entire cyclocross winter has effectively been wiped out, and his spring campaign is now once again up for debate. Former rider and team manager Johan Bruyneel also weighed in on the situation during his podcast THEMOVE.

The incident happened at the worst possible moment. In Mol, Van Aert had found himself in a duel with Mathieu van der Poel, the first genuine head-to-head between the two in quite some time. Van Aert had just caught the reigning world champion and looked to have every chance of beating him, but then slid out in an extremely slippery corner. The result: a fractured ankle. According to Bruyneel, that puts Van Aert’s spring ambitions firmly at risk.

It may take some time before the rider from Visma | Lease a Bike returns to racing. At present, Van Aert is targeting a comeback at Strade Bianche, but his compatriot fears it could take longer. "Three months is very real. It is not a serious fracture. But it's a huge setback for the Classics, if he can get there. But his preparation has been corrupted."

The list of setbacks Van Aert has had to endure is almost unparalleled. Last year, he crashed heavily in Dwars door Vlaanderen, missing the remainder of the spring as a result. Just as things seemed to be going well at the Vuelta a España, he suffered a serious knee injury. This latest crash is yet another blow. "It's obviously not good. It's a huge setback, Wout van Aert is doomed... Just when he showed improvement and got closer to Van der Poel. I just feel for the guy."

Bruyneel also lamented the moment when it happened. 'In Mol we seemed to get a duel with Van der Poel for the first time in a long time. "It looked like he was equal with Mathieu van der Poel. If you look back at the last two, three years, it's been a while since he has been equal. Van der Poel always gets the upper hand, but this could have been what we want. Now we won't know.'

It will come down hard on Van Aert, who thus sees the rest of his cross-country winter and part of his spring in ruins. But Bruyneel doesn't see it as entirely negative. There are also advantages to the woeful crash. 'It is again a guarantee that we are going to see a top Wout van Aert in the Tour de France,' he noted.

Because returning, that's what Van Aert can do like the best. The Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike had a difficult spring in 2025, but hit back mercilessly hard with stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. "The mental toughness of a rider is incredible,' said the former US Postal Services team manager. 'Every time he has to bounce back, and he's going to bounce back again, I have no doubt about that."

Are we going to see the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike back in cross? "If you look at Van der Poel and Van Aert, you see that they do this because they love it. They love the excercise, the atmosphere and the fans. They don't need to do it for the money, although they get paid really good money to start. But it's nothing compared what they make overall in the due to their other contracts. They just love cyclocross."

Despite his love for the sport, Bruyneel also sees another possibility ahead. For it is yet another setback, and in something certainly less of a priority in recent years than road cycling. "I can see him saying, 'You know what, this is it. I'm gonna limit the risks.' But then again, crashes in cyclocross are without any incidents. They crash quite a bit but at low speed and not on concrete."