Experienced trainer backs Wout van Aert for Maglia Rosa challenge: "He should be capable of a top five at the Giro d'Italia"

We now know that Wout van Aert is heading for a Giro d'Italia debut in 2025. The goals with which the Belgian star of Team Visma | Lease a Bike are still slightly unclear though. According to experienced trainer Jim van den Berg, this could be the perfect chance for Van Aert to test his Grand Tour GC capabilities. 

"I think his ambitions in Italy go beyond wearing the pink jersey once or winning a stage," Van den Berg begins his theory on the Live Slow, Ride Fast podcast. "I think he wants to try to ride a general classification. Not that he's going to win, but he wants to try."

On paper at least, Simon Yates stands out as the biggest GC threat from Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the 2025 Giro d'Italia. According to Van den Berg though, Van Aert is more than capable of balancing key mountain support of the Brit with his own general classification capabilities. "It is on the roadmap for him to see what he can do in a Grand Tour. It is a logical transition," explains the Dutchman. "Simon Yates is going to ride a classification in the Giro d'Italia, but I think there has been a plan for a long time to see with Van Aert how far he could get."

"In theory, he should be capable of a top five at the Giro d'Italia. Is this Giro suitable for that? A good question. There are more vertical meters than last year, but more spread out. And they are less above two thousand meters," Van den Berg concludes. "The 42-kilometre time trial isn't really in his favour either, but it's also a Giro without Pogacar. That helps too. He wouldn't go there to win, but I think they'd like to see him in the final week if he doesn't let it go straight away. And also as Yates' domestique to ride all the way to the finish."