"It might be the race that suits him best... So why stay away?" - Wout van Aert's Milano-Sanremo absence questioned
CyclingWednesday, 19 March 2025 at 14:02
The first Monument of the 2025 season awaits the peloton this weekend at Milano-Sanremo. For Wout van Aert, it is a race with a lot of history attached, with it being the only Monument he has ever won back in 2020. This time around however, the Belgian superstar is set to be one of the more notable absentees from the start line.
As mentioned, despite all of Van Aert's numerous successes over the course of his career, just one Monument win has been added to his palmares. A relatively poor return for someone of such immense talent. Of all of the five biggest one-day races on the cycling calendar though, it is arguably Milano-Sanremo that has always suited him best. As such, the 30-year-old's decision to skip the Italian Classic in 2025 has not been met with approval by some of his fellow countrymen, with the Belgian cycling expert Michel Wuyts notably speaking out.
"It's too late now, but how I would have loved to see Van Aert start in the race he can win," Wuyts explains on the latest episode of his Wuyts & De Vlaeminck podcast. "Have you looked at his list of honours in San Remo? Three times on the podium, with one win and two third places. The other two times also in the top-10. What more should you want?"
Because of the Belgian being able to compete with the best in the world in the sprints, and having proven himself as a more than capable climber over the years, the ascents of the Cipressa and the Poggio should not fear Van Aert according to Wuyts. "It might be the race that suits him best," insists the former Sporza commentator. "He can flash on the Poggio and if he survives in a group he can finish it in a sprint on the Via Roma if need be. So why stay away?" Wuyts questions rhetorically.
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- Should be a good one! It's been since 2022 since we have seen peak Pogi vs peak Vingo. 2023 Pogi had injuries and a suboptimal preparation. 2024 Vingo had even worse injuries and a poor runup to the Tour. UAE team has gotten stronger since 2022, while Visma maybe less strong.mobk06-05-2025
- You'd have to be an amoral prick to work for this team.Matt06-05-2025
- Jonas is a very solid descender. Remember him waiting for Pog when Pog crashed on a descent in 2022mobk05-05-2025
- For Pogi's first win against Jonas, he had a very subpar team relative to Jumbo. I don't think Jonas would have stood a chance if he had Pogi's team that year.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- He descended very well at the TdF last year after the first couple stages with technical descents.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- The funny thing about all of this is that Pogi can(that doesn't mean he definitely will) win the TdF while it's only one of many goals. Jonas is fully focused on the TdF. Yes, he does other races but they're solely in preparation for the TdF. Jonas is great, but much of the reason he has a fighters chance is that Pogi isn't a rider that's fully focused on stage races.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- Yates- when he is on - is pretty awesome to watch.
ScottG05-05-2025 - Jonas is afraid of crashing. That's not easy to shake. I think that fear has only gotten worse over the years.ScottG05-05-2025
- Healy will also be a contender in the hilly classics. That's it though.ScottG05-05-2025
- It remains a team sport, and either teams or injuries have determined the outcomes since 2022. In '22, UAE lost many team members due to covid, earlier than Jumbo Visma did, and that left Pogacar unprotected. In '23, Pogacar was injured at Liege, and that affected his training. In '24, Vingegaard was injured, Kuss and van Aert were a shadow of their '22 selves, and Roglic was gone from the team. So the question is, can Yates, Almeida, Novak, and the rest protect Pogacar, and will Kuss and the rest show up as they need to? Sure, it's the last climb that pits the two superstars against each other, and Pogacar (as we've seen with van der Poel) doesn't always win when he's got a challenger there. This year, if Vingegaard's concussion hasn't affected things too much, I think it will come down to the teams they bring.RidesHills05-05-2025
I thought it was obvious since last year. He wants to focus on the monuments that he hasn't won yet.
But what if that doesn't work? He's throwing away the chance at a monument that he can realistically win, it's not like he's skipping Lombardia type of race
Maybe because he believes in the law of series or momentum ;-) that took Newcastle 70 years to break. No, seriously, I get the feeling Wout is going through a tough patch and feels he needs a « break ».
Winning MSR is like a throw of dice. Even if you have the best legs, you may not win it. It feels so random.
I'm guessing they are trying to squeeze out the last percentage of his performance through training camp.
That's exactly why he can win it even without being at his best. It's basically a Z2 followed by 2 all out efforts
That is true, but I am speculating that he doesn't want to disrupt the training so that he can peak for the other 2 monuments.
Z2, seriously? Even if there are no attacks, punctures, mechanicals etc. likely to be at 45km/h for 8h. So basically to win you just have to prepare for a whole day in Z3, right?
Yes, seriously, Z2. First of all, the race isn't 8 hours, it's a lot shorter. 2nd, if the team is protecting you/you're sitting in the bunch at 45km/h, these guys are definitely in Z2
So basically, they could do it all again the next day, they put in no more effort than during a GT stage, right?
Yes. Last year Pogi did MSR on Saturday, 150km solo ride on Sunday and then dominated Catalunya from Monday onwards
what the ....? jesus, he's an alien. Anyway, it can't be Z2 all the way until Cipressa. Do their heartbeats go up after a few hours? For me, my heart needs to pump faster for the same effort after an hour of cycling. Obviously, I'm not a pro.
Yes, it's called heart rate drift, your zones shift after time. For example, if you start in Z2, after a few hours those same watts won't be your Z2 anymore but Z3 and your HR will go up
Okay, that's new to me. I wasn't aware of this terminology. I just thought that I have a very weak heart.
Everyone does, of thez go long/hard enough. It's a muscle, it gets fatigued
Ok but that 150 could have been Z1 and though he hasn’t ever won, he is not really representative. I still can’t image that no matter if 39 or 45 average it all stays in Z2, do you have any sources for that? It would make a mockery out of doping allegations due to raised average speeds as the 2x10min uphill sprints after (let’s call it a round 7h) are not what determines them.
Today Horner (I know) released a video in which he says that during MSR you do 150, 200w for the 1st part, that's easily below Z3 for every single pro. In the wheels, middle of peloton you're definitely Z2 or lower, it's all about conserving energy. Drafting matters, A LOT. Add aero bikes, aero clothes, aero helmets, aero everything
@Mistermaumau for example, during the 6th stage of the Tour last year, Turgis finished 18th, average speed over 46km/h, weighted average power was 235w, average power 179w. Just check strava, power is ridiculously low for most on flat stages
Horner is a buffoon!
I agree, some of his stuff is laughable but you can't deny it, he was there and done it for 20 years