"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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- 19 and 20 will be tougher for Del Toro to recover if he gets dropped again.mobk29-05-2025
- "I’m still in the game" What game??? It is not even visible unless a commentator biased towards british riders mentions him. He is not in GC Top 10. He is not in stage top3 either. So he is neither here nor there. Even the helpers of UAE are better than him. he seriously needs to reconsider GC dreamsabstractengineer29-05-2025
- That is just talk for the sake of talking. The real problem is NOBODY yet knows Del Toto’s place in the hierarchy so everyone is just guessing if and when things might change, and usually in hindsight, predictions further than one day ahead being pretty pointless seeing as even for the next stage most get it wrong most of the time.Mistermaumau29-05-2025
- Del Toro cut off Carapaz a few times on that descent and dived the corners...not a great look!frieders329-05-2025
- That's certainly not true. Caruso (in 4th) is three minutes back and Storer (10th) is nearly eight. No one outside the top three has even a remote chance of winning (or, very likely, being anywhere near the final podium.)verve82529-05-2025
- Given the last week's inclinations - he's riding really well.. it's all to play for and they all know that to, any of the top 10 can win this
leedorney29-05-2025 - What does he have to learn?leedorney29-05-2025
- Almeida’s is up in 2027 when he’ll be 28. Let the bidding begin.Mistermaumau28-05-2025
- You were wondering how come MVDP is rated higher by whoever and the way JM refers to a website. Obviously they’re all somehow ranking which means attributing a score to performance. As I said, no idea how but one reason he may be ranked higher is if more than just wins are counted. Like at the Olympics, some rank by gold, some prefer considering all medals, usually in order for a preferred country/athlete to look better. At some moment, in order to rank more than wins, every ranking or algorithm has to attribute points or value to different positions in order to tally and compare.Mistermaumau28-05-2025
- If you’re really young, your body doesn’t even remember what you did to it the day before ;-)Mistermaumau28-05-2025
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.