"Every year, we all race down there with clenched buttocks, at speeds that are outrageous"; the peloton on the descent

Dwars door Vlaanderen was a race of extremes, which eventually also saw a beautiful podium with Matteo Jorgenson, Jonas Abrahamsen and Stefan Küng. However, in the interviews afterward, the discussion was only partly about their performance, because the crash involving, among others, Wout Van Aert was of course also on everyone's mind.

"I think second place would have been the maximum achievable because Visma | Lease a Bike had a numerical advantage," podium contender Küng says of his third place, behind winner Matteo Jorgenson (who had Tiesj Benoot with him) and Abrahamsen. "They played it well, although I might have been the strongest after them. That means it was almost impossible to win, with two against one and the rest looking at me while on their limit."

Küng hadn't been among the frontrunners in the recent classics, but has found his good legs just in time. "I think I'm a candidate for De Ronde. The cobbled climbs normally suit me even better. I feel that I'm getting better every race, that's positive. We have three cards to play with Laurence, Valentin and myself," he refers to Laurence Pithie and Valentin Madouas.

Küng says descent of Berg ten Houte no more dangerous than others

Regarding the crash, Küng was quite clear: it happens. "It was hectic and I was alone. I just moved up when I heard the crash behind me. Everyone was a bit shocked and then Matteo reopened the race and we went along," he analyzes soberly, as the Groupama-FDJ rider is aware that these things can happen. "I've been doing these races for ten years now and in nine out of ten editions, it all goes well. But it's hard to avoid. We deal with wide and narrow roads, that's part of cycling. It's just not the part you want to see."

The fact that Dwars door Vlaanderen still included the climbs of Berg ten Houte and the Kanarieberg in the course, while the Tour of Flanders skipped them for safety reasons, Küng puts that into perspective. "I read that they removed that descent from the Tour of Flanders, because of a crash last year. But honestly, there are more such places, for example after the descent from the Hotond towards Trieu. Sometimes you realize things can go so fast, with just one touch of the wheels."

Declercq and Van Dijke on chaos in the descent towards Kanarieberg

Tim Declercq saw teammates Alex Kirsch (cut), Jasper Stuyven (broken collarbone) and Mads Pedersen (who for now only seems to have a scar) crash on the descent towards the Kanarieberg. "What makes that descent so dangerous? The fact that the road is so wide. Also, the overall level in the peloton is so high. There's such a huge pressure to move forward, and there are so many strong riders. You can't come into the wind too early, but also not too late," explains the Belgian, whose team directors were not allowed to talk too much with the press afterward. "But it's overwhelming, and you want to dive into a gap because you have to position yourself. But sometimes there's just no room. If you brake there, you're lost. It remains an extremely dangerous sport."

The Van Dijke brothers - teammates of Van Aert - share that opinion. "They don't just take that section out in De Ronde for nothing. It's all fun, the action that gets hyped up. But then things can still go wrong, and unfortunately, that's what happened here," Mick told IDLProCycling.com. Tim added: "It was my job to drop those guys off. I gave everything I had and think I was going close to 90 km/h when I heard a big bang behind me. When I looked back, I saw Wout hitting the ground. That was a very grim moment, and from then on, all I could think about was him and the other victims. There's gravel there. It's quite dangerous... It might be the worst place to fall, that must be unbelievable. Every year, we all race down there with clenched buttocks, at speeds that are outrageous," he shakes his head.