The 2025 edition of the Amstel Gold Race was a real thriller as Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose did battle for the race win, with the latter somewhat suprisingly coming out on top. According to ex-pro Jan Bakelants however, it was Wout van Aert - who crossed the line 34 seconds later in 4th - who leaves the race as "the moral winner."
“Among the mere mortals, Wout van Aert was the moral winner of the race,” explains the 39-year-old Belgian, who himself never finished higher than 13th in his nine career participations at the Amstel Gold Race, in post-race analysis for Belgian broadcaster Sporza. “He managed to win a sprint after a tough day in the saddle, against quick guys like Michael Matthews and Tom Pidcock. Sure, it was for fourth place - but it’ll do Wout a world of good.”
Van Aert has indeed struggled with his sprint in recent weeks, losing out to riders you'd never normally see beat such as Neilson Powless at Dwars Door Vlaanderen and Evenepoel himself at Brabantse Pijl. Could this explosive final kick to claim 4th on Easter Sunday be a sign that things are turning around for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader?
“That was a strong sprint. You can’t just brush it aside,” Bakelants insists. “I think his confidence in his sprint had dipped so low that this is a massive boost. We’ve seen in the big ‘Sunday races’ like Flanders and Roubaix that Wout has often been on the back foot. He still made it into the sprint for the podium, but kept getting beaten - especially by Mads Pedersen.”
“Matthews is the kind of guy who can still pull out a strong sprint after a hard race. He took fourth in Milano-Sanremo in a sprint that included Kaden Groves," concludes the experienced Belgian. "So when Wout gets the better of him in Amstel, it means something.”
🇳🇱 #AGR25
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 20, 2025
Wout van Aert's last five races:
2nd at Dwars door Vlaanderen
4th at Ronde van Vlaanderen
4th at Paris-Roubaix
2nd at De Brabantse Pijl
4th at Amstel Gold Race
No icing on the cake, but today we enjoyed you once again, Wout. 💛 pic.twitter.com/7RAxsYTGxi
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
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- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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