Dylan van Baarle was scheduled to race Paris-Tours on Sunday, October 11, 2026, but a serious crash during training in the Netherlands changed everything just days before the event. The former Paris-Roubaix winner and fiancé of Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was hit by a car and rushed to hospital, with the accident coming just days before their planned wedding. While the crash brought his racing season to an unexpected end, it was Ferrand-Prévot’s emotional reaction that revealed just how frightening the incident had been.
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“He suffered a major impact to the head; his helmet saved his life…,” Ferrand-Prévot wrote on Instagram.
The accident happened on October 7, while Van Baarle was training in the Netherlands. Reports placed the crash on Markstraat in Opheusden, near Tiel, where the 34-year-old reportedly fell down an embankment after the collision. Emergency services attended the scene, and he was taken to hospital for treatment. However, the exact circumstances of the crash have not been publicly confirmed.
Soudal Quick-Step later confirmed the incident. “Following the incident, Dylan was taken to hospital where he underwent a CT scan, which has fortunately revealed no damage to his skull and spine,” the team said in its medical update. “He did however sustain a fracture to his wrist, which will require surgery and mean an end to his season. Everybody from the Wolfpack family wishes Dylan a speedy recovery.”
The surgery was scheduled for Thursday, October 8, ruling Van Baarle out of Paris-Tours and the remainder of his planned racing calendar. While the scan results offered some much-needed relief, the crash could hardly have come at a worse time. Van Baarle and Ferrand-Prévot are preparing to marry later in October, turning what should have been an exciting period for the couple into one filled with worry and an unexpected recovery.
Despite the frightening ordeal, Ferrand-Prévot managed to find a little humour in her Instagram update, joking, “I’m going to sleep alone for a few nights, but that’s the tradition before the big wedding day, I guess,” she wrote. The latest crash adds to a difficult run of injuries for Van Baarle, whose recent seasons have repeatedly been disrupted by serious falls and fractures.
Dylan van Baarle’s past injury struggles resurface after another crash ends his 2026 season
In April 2023, Van Baarle crashed while defending his Paris-Roubaix title. The accident happened at high speed in the Forest of Arenberg, leaving him with a fractured left hand and right shoulder, along with facial cuts that required treatment from the team doctor. Van Baarle later recalled how his bike went one way, and he went the other as he hit the ground.
His injury troubles continued the following year. On stage five of the Critérium du Dauphiné on June 6, 2024, he crashed on wet roads and fractured his collarbone. He returned to competition in time to represent the Netherlands at the Paris Olympics, but another setback followed at the Vuelta a España in August. A crash in the feed zone during stage two left him with pelvic fractures, including a broken pubic bone, forcing him to abandon the race.
Van Baarle suffered another major blow on January 21, 2025, when he crashed during the closing kilometres of the opening stage of the Tour Down Under. Medical examinations revealed a collarbone fracture in three places, ruling him out of the race before stage two. The repeated setbacks made it difficult for him to build consistency and regain his best form.
Despite those challenges, Van Baarle secured his future with Soudal Quick-Step, signing a contract through the end of 2027. He joined the Belgian team for the 2026 season after three years with Visma | Lease a Bike, with the aim of rediscovering his best form and returning to contention in the spring Classics, particularly the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, the latest collision has brought his 2026 season to an abrupt end.