Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike) has suffered a more complicated fracture than his team suggested and his recovery time could be much longer. This puts in serious doubt his participation in races like Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, on April 5th and 12th respectively, according to French newspaper L’Équipe.
It has reported Belgian medical sources saying the 31-year-old's crash in the snow at Exact Cross Mol resulted in a fracture to the right lateral malleolus, the inner part of the fibula.
It further stated the surgery he has undergone involved osteosynthesis - pinning the broken bone. That strongly suggests the injury is more serious than "a small fracture", as his team claimed after Friday’s crash.
L’Équipe spoke to medics who work in cycling, and who have experience of riders recovering, and returning to training and racing, after broken bones.
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Some have said Van Aert will not be able to train on the home trainer for at least four weeks, and possibly up to six, though one said Van Aert may be able to do some training at home in three weeks, if everything went very well.
However, their expectations for his return to training on the road, and then racing, does not suggest he will be in the fight in the major spring classics. Indeed, the medics believe he has a fight on his hands to make the start line of Roubaix and Flanders, which he was gunning for.
Prof Gilbert Versier, orthopaedic surgeon and traumatologist on the Tour de France, told the newspaper Van Aert would need a brace on his leg for one month, during which time he would need to be immobile.
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"Weight-bearing and walking can be resumed between four and six weeks, and cycling on a stationary trainer around six weeks, sometimes four weeks if the fracture heals well."
Dr Mathieu Le Strat treated Kévin Vauquelin's ankle fracture last year after he tripped at home following his 7th place at the Tour de France. He believes Van Aert could be on the home trainer in three weeks, if everything went very well.
Prof Versier believes Van Aert may be unable to return to training on the road - with the vibrations involved - for two months and that his first race may follow one month later.
In theory, that would mean he could return for Flanders on April 5th, exactly three months from now. But what condition he would be in for such a major race is unclear.
Van Aert could on Friday be seen limping as he abandoned the race following his heavy fall on a sweeping righthander, in the snow. He was leading the event in the company of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) at the time.
The Belgian got up after the incident and tried to struggle on but was quickly forced out. As he was leaving the venue later, to get medical checks, he could be seen with a pronounced limp.
His team later said he had “sprained his ankle and sustained a small fracture”, adding Van Aert “undergo surgery on Saturday, after which he will focus on his recovery.”
