Fan in viral Wout van Aert photo reveals what really happened on Kemmelberg

The moment happened during In Flanders Fields, as the riders climbed the Kemmelberg for the third time. The supporter had found a spot along the barriers together with his daughter, hoping to see the favorites up close.

“During the last passage on the Kemmelberg, I had picked a nice spot together with my daughter, who was standing just below me,” he said to Sporza. “Mathieu passed first. When I turned around to see Wout, he was already there and I lightly touched him. In the photo it looks like I hit him fully with my nose, but it was more in the turning motion.”

Just before that, Mathieu van der Poel had gone through with a small gap, leaving little time to react before Van Aert followed.

The photo (made by Chris Auld) makes it look worse than it was. “There’s no damage at all,” he said. “At that moment, I barely felt anything.”

Van Aert was also unaffected and continued without issue, chasing down Van der Poel before the pair joined forces at the front, only to be caught again in the final kilometre.

The 31-year-old Visma | Lease a Bike rider later shared the image himself, which only added to how quickly it spread online.

“Suddenly I got message after message with the photo,” the fan said. “I didn’t realize it had gone viral straight away.”

He decided to reach out to the rider afterward. “I sent him an apology via Instagram, just to be sure,” he said. “It was never my intention to touch him.”

The supporter also pointed out that he believed he was standing correctly. “I was standing neatly with my hands behind the barriers, but I misjudged the situation for a moment.”

“I will pay more attention next time,” he added. “Even when you think you are standing safely, you still have to be careful.”