Adam Blythe on Wout van Aert: "He's like a little outsider. He just doesn't seem to have the friends that he needs in the peloton"

Wout van Aert's 2025 season to date has been far from a disaster, with a number of high placings in notable race. The lack of a win however, gives the stark impression that a little something is missing from the Belgian this year. What exactly that missing piece is, is up for debate but according to former British national champion Adam Blythe, it could be that Van Aert doesn't have the friends he needs in the peloton.

"For me, he's like a little outsider," Blythe told TNT Sports' Ultimate Cycling Show, following Van Aert's close second place behind the returning Remco Evenepoel at Brabantse Pijl on Friday. "He just doesn't seem to have the friends that he needs in the peloton. He's respected, but for me, he hasn't got that camaraderie with the other riders that you kind of need in a way."

"From my experience of bike racing, if you're in a break - which granted, I wasn't in many breakaways - but the ones that I were in heading into the finish, you'll be able to chat to other riders, you'll be able to talk to them," Blythe adds.

In the opinion of Blythe though, Van Aert seems to be left out when it comes to the friendly banter between the rest of the big Classics stars. "Watching Paris-Roubaix, Flanders, Mathieu van der Poel would talk, Mads Pedersen would talk, Tadej Pogacar would talk, but they'd all talk together. And then you'd have Wout on the side of that," he explains further. "I think those little chats, they might be something simple. Whatever it is, Wout's not involved in that and if you're seeing that chat happen, you're like, 'What are they talking about? They're ganging up on me,' sort of thing."

"So just on my side of things, I'd like to see him, and it's a ridiculous way of putting it, but more of the lads thing within it a little bit more," Blythe continues, offering up some advice to the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader. "They're more against him than wanting to ride with him."

"It's like there are three brothers, there's Wout, Van der Poel and Tadej," added guest on the show - Team Jayco AlUla rider Luke Durbridge. "There are two brothers ganging up on one. When they get out there, I even find it amazing with Tadej and Van der Poel, they literally are mates, but then they're beating each other up, but then afterwards it's like, 'Bro, we're family'."

"Mathieu is fine with them two, it's not a tactical thing ever with them two, it's just the strongest man can win, completely. I think the Wout thing, he has to win tactically now rather than just the strongest man wins, because he's not there," Blythe concludes. "I think the other two will ride him out of it on legs like they did in Flanders a little bit, rather than work with him and use him a little bit. They'd rather see him almost drop because he can't keep up, and then those two will fight it out."