At the E3 Saxo Classic, a significant crash in the initial kilometers resulted in the hospitalization of four riders, three from Soudal-QuickStep and one from Picnic-PostNL. Gil Gelders and Jordi Warlop suffered concussions, while Dries Van Gestel sustained fractures. The incident caused splits in the peloton, affecting notable riders like Mathieu van der Poel, who expressed frustration at teams exploiting the crash situation. In a dramatic finish, van der Poel won despite being caught behind the initial crash, showing his competitive spirit amidst adversity.
"Following their crash in the opening 20 kilometers of Friday's E3 Saxo Classic, Gil Gelders, Dries Van Gestel and Jordi Warlop were taken to hospital in Waregem. Both Gil and Jordi have been treated for concussion but fortunately have no other injuries."
"In the beginning, we were behind a crash, and some teams felt it was necessary to take advantage of that," Van der Poel said, sounding somewhat irritated.
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