Philippe Macejuk (Bahrain Victorious) was disqualified from the Tour de Flanders after causing a major crash in the peloton.

Macejuk was moving along the side of the road with 140km remaining in the race. He then entered a deep grass section, lost control of his bike, crossed the road and crashed into the peloton.

He caused a skittles effect, causing many riders to fall.

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was one of the riders who fell to the deck, but he quickly restarted and returned to the peloton. Julien Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) was in pain and waited for mechanical service, but was then able to catch up again.

The crash injured many riders, including 2016 champion Peter Sagan (Total Energies), who was forced to abandon early in his last Tour de Flanders.

Race radio confirmed that Tadej Pogachal's main teammate Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) had withdrawn from the race and was taken to hospital, while Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) and Oia Razkano (Movistar) also abandoned.

Others, including Jasper Steiven (Trek Segafredo), were also bumped off.

The video referee reviewed the footage and immediately announced Macejuk's disqualification.

"I'm really sorry that my mistake caused the crash. This should not have happened and it was a huge error in judgment on my part."

The first Auschwitz team to disqualify Macejuk was the first to be disqualified.

On the first Aude Quaremont climb, the peloton rode slowly as the riders chased them, but the race resumed on the Corte Caire climb with 126 km to go.

Valentin Maduas (Groupama-FDJ), last year's podium finisher, was sick and struggled in the early kilometers.

Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarke-Wanty-Gobert) were stopped by early crashes, while Søren Kraag Andersen (Alpecin-Desseuninck) was sick this week and was involved in an early split Much energy was expended on the return of Mathieu van der Pol, who was involved in an early split.