Mathieu van der Poel has crashed out of the Three Days of De Panne.
The Dutch star was riding in the lead group of the 188km one-day race in Belgium, with just 16km left to the finish.
While battling to stay out of the chaotic crosswinds, Van der Poel was pinched side of the road at fell at high speed into a ditch.
After lying in the ditch for a moment, Van der Poel was eventually helped to his feet but looked unsteady.
Shortly after news came through that the Alpecin-Fenix rider had abandoned the race, which was expected to be his last road event of 2020.
It's a disappointing end to the season for Van der Poel, who won his first Monument at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, beating his great rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).
Alex is the digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter and now as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output.
Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) and joining CW in 2018, Alex has covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers.
Away from journalism, Alex is a national level time triallist, avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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