Team LottoNL-Jumbo suffered several blows Wednesday during the Dwars door Vlaanderen in Belgium. Four of the eight black and yellow riders crashed out of the race, with Jos  van Emden hurt the most. The Dutchman suffered an AC luxation injury in his right shoulder, which normally takes four to six weeks to recover.
 
“Jos crashed into a rider that’d stopped in the middle of the road to check a broken wheel ,” Sports Director Jan Boven explained the crash afterwards. “Two riders in front of him were able to steer out in time, but for Jos, it was too late.
 
“We’re going to miss him the coming weeks. Jos is a rider on who we were counting. We’d expected to see him in the final of some of the next races.”
 
Big setback
Rick Flens, Maarten Tjallingii and Moreno Hofland were held up by Van Emden’s spill, and fell behind. Bert-Jan Lindeman, Mike Teunissen and Maarten Wynants also hit the tarmac. It was a big setback for Boven and Nico Verhoeven.
 
“Our plan has failed and of course we’re disappointed,” Boven said with frustration. “We started the race with a strong team. Unfortunately, it was all over after 130 kilometres.”
 
Tom Van Asbroeck
Tom Van Asbroeck, still recovering from a serious crash in the Driedaagse van West-Vaanderen, was the only team LottoNL-jumbo rider to complete the 200 kilometres between Waregem and Roeselare.
 
“Tom is improving,” Boven saw. “He crashed very hard and every race he manages to finish is a boost. That’s a positive thing we can take out of today.”
 
Jelle Wallays of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise won Dwars door Vlaanderen. The Belgian was the strongest of a break of four. His team-mate Edward Theuns ended up second.