Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is out of the Tour de France 2019 after crashing in the stage 13 time trial.
The Belgian national time trial champion collided with a barrier as he took a right-hand bend in the final two kilometres of the 27km time trial. Van Aert was travelling at 47.7kmh when the crash took place.
>>> LIVE: Tour de France 2019 stage 13 time trial
Video footage showed Van Aert catching the barrier with his right-hand side as he took the apex of the corner. It is unclear the extent of the injuries Wout van Aert sustained in the incident, but it was immediately clear he would be unable to continue.
Oh no 😱 Wout van Aert hits a fence in a turn in the final of his time trial. Seems tot be the end of his first Tour de France. 😟 #TDF19 pic.twitter.com/0E3MdRWjdt
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) July 19, 2019
Race officials and his team immediately tended to the 24-year-old with a medical team quickly arriving to treat him on the side of the road. He was then taken away in an ambulance to hospital.
Dutch team Jumbo-Visma said Van Aert was conscious and had sustained a wound to his upper right leg where he made contact with the barrier. Media reports suggest that he didn’t sustain a fracture but that the would to his leg is extremely deep.
🇫🇷#TDF2019
.@WoutvanAert unfortunately has to abandon the race after his crash. He is conscious and has a flesh wound at his right upper leg.— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July 19, 2019
Van Aert looked to be heading towards setting the best time in the time trial before the crash. He has already had a very successful debut Tour, helping Jumbo-Visma to stage two victory in the team time trial and sprinted to a win on stage 10 in Albi.
A number of riders crashed on the tricky course in Pau on stage 13. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) was able to finish despite crashing midway through his effort, while German Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) saw his efforts to place highly fall away after crashing close to the finish of the course.
