"In the Vuelta I had finally felt like a winner again" - Wout van Aert on 2024 heartbreaks, difficulties winning monuments and beating Tadej Pogacar

Wout van Aert has started his season in Spain, the country where in 2024 he has his year ended with a nasty fall at the Vuelta a España. Speaking to Relevo, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider recalled the injury that ended his 2024 season and talked about the classics and Tadej Pogacar.

"I think everyone is constantly trying to improve, so if you keep doing the same thing, your level is going to stagnate and that is a problem. In today's cycling, the level is constantly increasing," van Aert explained. For a rider who has had two major crashes in 2024, it certainly is no easy task neither physically or mentally - specially when Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar enjoy a long run without injuries where they can constantly improve.

After winning three stages, wearing the points and KOM jersey... The withdrawal and season ending from La Vuelta's crash was specially difficult. "In the Vuelta I had finally felt like a winner again. I was at my best again, so it was very difficult to assimilate [...] Especially starting from scratch. The truth is that I didn't want to start another rehab. All my goals were so far away and it was hard. I had been through something like that before and I felt like I didn't want to start from scratch again".

It was a heartbreaking situation for the Belgian who already had to let go of the cobbled monuments, Giro d'Italia, and now would also miss the World Championships. But in true van Aert fashion, he has recovered and trained through the winter; and in the cyclocross schedule he built he took some wins and went on to finish second to Mathieu van der Poel at the World Championships. His rivalry with the Dutchman marked his career, not only coming second multiple times at the CX worlds, but also having the same on the road, specially in monuments.

In 2023 he was fit to win Roubaix, but punctured close to the finale whilst attacking his rival. In 2022 he was second and in 2024 he was injured and couldn't race. He has only one monument (2020 Milano-Sanremo) to his name. "My second place in the Tour of Flanders [in 2020] was a very tight finish. That day I could have won, because I arrived very close with Mathieu, but in the end it came up tails (he refers to heads or tails, ed.). It couldn't be. Even so, I have no regrets about it. It happened and that's it".

A rider who faces a lot of bad luck, and when he is at his best he faces a rival of historical proportions. At 30 years of age, he is perhaps in the final years where he can contest for a big career-changing victory. "Mathieu is a tremendous athlete. It's normal that I lose a lot against him. What I'm trying to do is appreciate more and more that I'm the one who comes closest to him and the one who offers him the most competition, so I think it's a very nice rivalry".

In 2023 on the run-up to Flanders, he beat van der Poel and Pogacar directly at the E3 Saxo Classic, but was then defeated in Flanders. This year the three meet once again in the famous 'bergs'. But actually, this is something van Aert wanted: "For me, I think it's easier when Tadej [Pogacar] is racing, because it's highly likely that he'll propose a long and very hard finish. If you have the legs to be able to follow him, I think you can find yourself in a new race from then on". He believes races become less tactical when the World Champion takes part.

And for the Tour de France, he wants to help Visma defeat the Slovenian after a tremendous 2024 performance. "Luck was not on our side at all, we had a lot of crashes, and especially our leader Jonas [Vingegaard] couldn't come to the Tour de France with the ideal preparation. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything will go when he can get back to full preparation and have a real battle with Tadej. I think that's the biggest dream of any fan right now. And that's what we're working towards as a team," he concluded.