Van Aert recounts €300 fine after unusual rehab incident in Italy

Speaking on the Belgian programme Wielerclub Wattage ahead of the Tour of Flanders, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider looked back on an unexpected moment during his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained during the Vuelta a España.

In Spain, he crashed on the descent during stage 16. At that point, he was leading both the points and mountains classifications and had already secured three stage victories.

“My story takes place in September 2024,” Van Aert said. “At the time, I was still recovering from my crash. In the beginning I was in a lot of pain. I couldn’t put weight on my knee or bend it.”

After several weeks of rehabilitation, the Belgian and his wife decided to take a short break to the Dolomites in northern Italy.

“It did me a lot of good, and I reached the point where I no longer needed my crutches,” he explained. “On the way back to the airport, it started to bother me and I thought, I’m going to throw them away. It was symbolic for me.”

Van Aert stopped at a roadside car park and disposed of the crutches in a recycling container, an act his wife captured on video and later shared on Instagram.

What seemed like an innocent and even lighthearted moment took an unexpected turn months later. "Suddenly, we received a fine in the post,” Van Aert said. “The region of Trentino had issued a €300 penalty for illegal dumping.”

The problem, it turned out, was that the crutches had been placed in the wrong recycling container.

In the same interview, Van Aert was also faced with a series of quickfire questions focused more on racing. One statement put to him was: “In five years, I will be a former rider.”

“The chances are higher that I will be than that I won’t,” he replied. In five years’ time, Van Aert would be 36.

A question about his long time rival Mathieu van der Poel was inevitable. Asked whether the Dutchman now ranks above Tom Boonen in his view, Van Aert was clear: “Sorry, Tom, but Mathieu stands above him for me.”

Van Aert lines up this Sunday at the Tour of Flanders, a race he has long targeted, after an impressive week in Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen. On both occasions, he was part of the decisive moves before being caught in the closing kilometre.