Fabian Cancellara went from the favourite to win the Tour of Flanders to out of the Classics completely after a crash on the Haaghoek cobbled sector just 40km into Friday’s E3 Harelbeke. It now leaves his Trek Factory Racing team without a leader for the races, with Stijn Devolder likely to step up.

“It’s a pity and it’s a shame,” sports director Dirk Demol said. “If you lose your leader like we did today then it’s hard to take.”

“What can you do? He has to rest, he can’t do anything, he just has to rest and recover,” said Demol. “We hope he can come back sometime in May.”

Now Trek have to find someone to step up and fill Cancellara’s exceptionally large boots.

“We’ll try to make the best of it,” Demol said, “but it’s not going to be easy.”