Van Aert, one of the favourites to win Wednesday's race, was brought down in a crash 65 kilometres from the finish and the Belgian could be heard screaming in pain as he lay on the ground.

"A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital," Team Visma-Lease a Bike said.

"It is unclear how long his recovery will take. He will definitely miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race."

Van Aert sat out the recent Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo races, opting instead for a three-week altitude camp in order to peak for Sunday's Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix on April 7th.

The Dwars door Vlaanderen was won by Van Aert's American teammate Matteo Jorgenson (24), winner of the Paris-Nice earlier this month, but his thoughts were with the Belgian.

"It was a very nasty fall, I knew immediately that we had lost Wout," Jorgenson said.

"I hope everyone is okay, and that I'm now not the only remaining contender for the Tour of Flanders. We'll see about that later."