Everybody is human, even Wout van Aert, and today the Belgian proved it with an uncharacteristic mistake in the sprint for victory at Bemer Cyclassics in Germany, with Marco Haller ending the race a delighted winner.
While Haller's Bora-hansgrohe team had two riders in the five-man breakaway group sprinting for victory, few would have bet against Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) taking his ninth win of the season.
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However, as Patrick Konrad led the group into the finish - working for Haller - Van Aert was caught napping. He continually looked to his left checking to see of Haller was opening his sprint.
And as those glances to his left were continuing, Haller jumped to Van Aert's right. The Belgian rider looked left again, but Haller was already ahead of him and had opened a gap as he charged towards the line.
Van Aert's reaction was so slow - a sentence you won't see too often - that by the time he kicked even Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) had jumped after Haller. While Van Aert had the legs to overhaul Hermans, he couldn't catch Haller, who was absolutely delighted with his win in front of a home crowd.
