Selon la Gazzetta dello Sport, Wout Van Aert disputera le Tour d'Italie en 2024 en tant que leader de la Jumbo-Visma. D'après le média, son staff l'imagine capable de finir dans le top 5. Le Belge pourrait louper le Tour de France pour se consacrer aux JO. gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/31-10…
"It’s clear he can’t win a race like the Tour de France" - Wout van Aert's Grand Tour focus would be a mistake according to classics legend Museeuw
CyclingSunday, 05 November 2023 at 11:09
Johan Museeuw, one of Belgium's most legendary classics specialists has extensively talked about Wout van Aert's classics goals in a recent interview, but also talked about his possible Grand Tour goals. Unsurprisingly, he is not overly fond of the idea as he prefers van Aert to fight for the big wins.
“You need a focus and you need to focus on what you’re good at. Van Aert is good at one-day races. That’s where the focus should be," Museeuw said in words shared with GCN. "Of course he can be good in the Tour de France and he could do a top-ten in a Grand Tour but what’s that for? It’s clear he can’t win a race like the Tour de France."
Van Aert, who has struggled to take victories in the major monuments and hasn't until today won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Recently, Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the Belgian will make his Giro d'Italia debut in 2024. Not only that, but he may aim for the overall classification. This would be a new challenge, but it is unclear at the time being if that will happen - Richard Plugge has afterwards stated the team hasn't yet made decisions for the 2024 season.
However, facing this possibility, Museeuw is certain that van Aert's focus should be in the cobbled classics and not in the Grand Tours where a GC victory is quite unlikely due to his rider type. "I don’t think he can win the Giro and I wouldn’t alter my programme for a Giro where I have maybe a 50 percent chance of winning. Not when I have a 95 percent chance of winning in the Classics," he argues.
"If he wants to win the Giro he has to lose one or two kilos and do a different programme. That means he won’t be as strong in the Spring Classics. I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to target GC in the Giro. For me he has to target the Spring Classics, the one-day races and the Olympic Games."
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