Tour of Flanders

Today is Easter, a holiday that is celebrated by Christians all over de world. But in Flanders, today Easter got undersnowed by something else.

Today was the dat in which the Tour of Flanders was held, and the. Easter celebrations got overshadowed by The Tour of Flanders. Every single person in Belgium looks out to this race, and a million fans follow it live. It’s in our DNA.

A year of drama

But this year, things were a little different. Last Wednesday, two of the Flemish favourites crashed immensely hard in a preparation race for The Tour of Flanders. Jasper Stuyven broker his collarbone and Wout Van Aert broke seven ribs, his sternum and his collarbone.

Devestating news for the Belgian cycling fan, but even more for the cyclists themselves. Wout Van Aert skipped other races and lived on mountain Teide for seven weeks. He had the perfect preparation to score in both The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. But now, none of that, and even his participation in the Giro d’Italia is almost impossible.

Financial loss

Not only the physical pain and mental burder is hard, but also the financial loss is incredible. One crash could cost Wout Van Aert more than 1.5 million EUR in prize and sponsorship money. That is a lot to lose in just a matter of a second.

Life as a professional sportsman can bring in a shitload of money, but you have to sacrifice a lot and things have to go as smoothly as possible!

I wish Wout and Jasper a great recovery!

Sincerely,

Pele23