"I've always thought that Wout van Aert's perfect race is the Tour of Flanders" - Filippo Pozzato believes Visma star can compete against Van der Poel & Pogacar

A big year awaits Wout van Aert in 2025. After an injury-hit 2024 saw his momentum consistently scuppered, the Belgian star of Team Visma | Lease a Bike will be determined to prove he still has what it takes to beat the very best in the peloton.

Former star of Italian cycling Filippo Pozzato has been watching the developments of Van Aert keenly over the recent off-season and foresees a successful campaign for the Belgian. "To tell the truth, I've always thought that Van Aert's perfect race is the Tour of Flanders," the Italian says in conversation with Bici.Pro, backing Van Aert to compete for the win this year, despite the all-star list of starters, such as Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar. "If he is in top form I think he can compete very well, yes. The others are two phenomena, of course, but they still have to be able to detach him if they don't want to find him in the sprint. In terms of pure engine I think he is the strongest, I've always said that. His problem is that he doesn't file much, he doesn't know how to move like Van Der Poel, maybe he lacks something technically, as is often seen in cyclocross."

The rivalry of Van Aert and Van der Poel has been one that has defined a generation. Despite the similarities between the duo though, Pozzato sees two very different riders. "Van der Poel rides in a different way, he has a team where he can do pretty much whatever he wants. At the Tour he might sprint a few times, but helping a captain who can win the Tour, like Van Aert does, is a whole other matter," explains the Italian. "After that, I repeat, riders like Van der Poel race very little and I don't know how they manage to go so fast. This really gives you an idea of ​​the difference between my cycling and what there is now, I don't understand how they manage to train with that intensity without the adrenaline of racing. You really have to be super focused all the time, and so I think mentally it's more difficult."

"In my opinion, you should always do the Sanremo, the Flanders and the Roubaix, but if it's a technical choice and I understand it," continues Pozzato, noting Van Aert's decision to skip Milano-Sanremo in 2025. "Of course I'm sorry not to see him there, in a race so suited to him. Maybe it's a bit of a gamble, but I think I understood that he chose not to go in order to train as best he could for the second part of the spring, including the Giro. It's strange to me that someone like him isn't there, but it's also true that in modern cycling you have to aim only for certain goals, so from a certain point of view I understand him."

"Sanremo is really a special race. In Flanders, whoever has the most legs comes out, while in Sanremo there are a thousand unknowns because it is truly open to everyone," Pozzato concludes. "I have come close to winning a lot of times for one reason or another, and in the end I didn't win it the year I was going fastest, but the year when everything went right."