"I had hoped for more answers in Le Samyn" - Wout van Aert comes into Strade Bianche without proper racing test
Cycling
Wout van Aert has had a winter with several setbacks and is starting his second race day of the season today at Strade Bianche. He doesn't know where he stands in terms of form however, having been forced to miss Omloop het Nieuwsblad and also having a puncture ruin the finale of Le Samyn for him.
“This remains a really beautiful race. Last year in the Giro I noticed again that gravel suits me well, even if that stage was easier than Strade," Van Aert said in words to Sporza. "But it was always my intention to come back. Because of the circumstances, it took a long time, but it was never the plan to stay away from this race. Definitely not.”
A former winner of this race and the winner of the 'mini Strade Bianche' at the Giro d'Italia last year, it certainly is a race that is well adapted to his abilities. Van Aert has to deal with a course that is more favourable towards the climbers than back when he raised his arms in Siena; however his climbing ability still stands and his technical ability on off-road sectors remains quite high, which is key in such a race.
However he hoped to already have good knowledge of his racing form at this point of the spring, but hasn't been able to get the answers he wanted. “I had hoped for more answers in Le Samyn on Tuesday, but I wasn’t really able to test myself fully in what was quite an easy race. Tomorrow (Saturday, ed.) will bring more answers.”
No specific result
This Thursday Van Aert was doing a solo recon of the gravel sectors, dry and slippery this year in the roads of Tuscany. “It went well. It was important to look at some of the sectors again, because it had been a long time. It was a good refresher. That wasn’t necessarily the plan, but the team had different ideas and I personally wanted to do that long training ride on Thursday. There’s nothing more behind it.”
But due to the particular circumstances in which he enters this race, having had a winter where he was both injured and ill, it is hard to have winning ambitions, or put a pin in what he might be able to achieve. Matteo Jorgenson is a reliable alternative to the Dutch team in the meantime.
“I can’t attach a placing to it, but I want to be in the final and I want to feel that I’ve really been in the race. If it turns into an honourable result, I can be satisfied with that. But we’ll see tomorrow," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment