Michele Bartoli scolds Wout van Aert in Milano-Sanremo absence: "When you expect something from him, he doesn't deliver"
Cycling
While the cycling world marvelled at the breathtaking battle between Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, and Filippo Ganna at last weekend’s Milano-Sanremo, one name was conspicuously missing from the start list: Wout van Aert.
The Belgian star, who memorably won the Italian Monument in 2020, opted to sit out the first Monument of 2025, a decision that’s drawn criticism from some quarters, particularly given the seismic showdown that unfolded in his absence.
Van Aert’s attention is now firmly on the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, where he lines up today. It will be his first major test of the cobbled classics campaign, a spring season in which he’ll once again attempt to conquer the sport’s two roughest Monuments: the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. In both, he will have to contend with the formidable presence of Van der Poel and Pogacar, arguably the two most dominant riders of the current era.
Former Monument winner Michele Bartoli, speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, didn’t shy away from expressing his doubts about Van Aert’s absence in Italy.
"Apart from Filippo Ganna, Wout van Aert is the only one who could still win," Bartoli said, referring to Van Aert’s potential to disrupt the Van der Poel–Pogacar dominance.
Yet despite this recognition of Van Aert’s talent, Bartoli questioned the Belgian’s approach to the early season.
"But when you expect something from him, he doesn't deliver. I also wonder why he didn't participate in Milan-Sanremo. He says he trains, but he has to measure himself against the others. Training alone is not enough, he also has to race."
It’s a sharp critique, but one that taps into a familiar narrative surrounding Van Aert: despite his consistency and immense ability, he has sometimes fallen short in the moments where the spotlight shines brightest. With the likes of Van der Poel already adding another Monument to his growing tally, questions naturally arise about Van Aert’s timing and readiness heading into the most crucial part of his campaign.
Meanwhile, Ganna, who finished second at Sanremo, continues to win admirers. Bartoli included the Italian in the conversation when discussing potential Paris-Roubaix contenders.
"He is in top form and certainly a serious candidate to win Paris-Roubaix for example," Bartoli acknowledged. "However, Mathieu van der Poel and especially Tadej Pogacar, if he starts, remain the top favourites. If Pogacar is at the start somewhere, he is always the top favourite."
That last point captures the gravity of Pogacar’s presence. Even in the brutal terrain of Paris-Roubaix (a race he has never contested) his name still carries top billing among pre-race favourites. And following his Cipressa attack at Sanremo, where he and Ganna shattered a decades-old climbing record before being outsprinted by Van der Poel, Pogacar once again demonstrated his ability to rewrite what is considered possible in one-day racing.
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- Absolutely, we are inundated by articles (not only in cycling or sport but everywhere from stocks to weather to elections) from self-called or popularly regarded experts making calls without reasoning. They basically know little more than any other informed or interested party and base everything on odds. The fact that they never have to justify their wrong calls post event but continue to get to make calls should get some attention. It would be cool if someone tallied up and recorded their predictions for future reference.Mistermaumau01-04-2025
- Yes, I agree but you’re taking risks writing such long posts here ;-) In that sense, the Tourless Primoz discussion is also pretty pointless as he virtually won a Tour (nobody would have counted on Tadej doing what he did at the last moment at that time and I guess it was bad karma for Primoz for so ofren cutting things so fine). I think you over interpreted my original thesis, it was not for trying to explain his current state, it was to suggest there was already mental material pre-crashes that has helped worsen his state, when it rains it pours. I really do remember having the feeling in that past he was more focused on not letting MVDP get better than him than doing his own thing. The seed of doubt was already planted and it doesn’t take much for doubt to grow in all sorts of directions.Mistermaumau01-04-2025
- i wouldn't count Pogi out. Low probability of a win, but not impossiblemobk01-04-2025
- Right now it doesn't seem that his legs are there or that his head is in the racevappaxbipmv01-04-2025
- would have been nice to hear exactly WHY he thinks pog has zero chance in some greater detail. i mean, tend to agree that his chances aren’t GREAT, but some explanation from the expert with an opinion would be nice. MINE is that, in spite of the recon he did where tadej concluded that the course “wasn’t that hard” i think that doing the full route at full gas is really going to beat up pogacar’s 145lb body, to a degree that he maybe isn’t expecting. but hey, we’ll see in a couple weeks. like everyone else, i do think it’s supercool that he’s going.OCexile01-04-2025
- Go back to that era and look at the lousy mechanicals he's had at Paris-Roubaix. Take those away, maybe he has another Monument, Van der Poel has one less, and suddenly all the rules change. Those mechanicals preceded his awful crashes - and you're right, that Tour was amazing. Ventoux, TT, and Champs-Elysees?! Something that Pogacar and Van der Poel can't do, just Wout. It still amazes me.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Oh, the impossibility of this kind of comparison. A pre-WW2 Binda had amazing statistics, and that was one era. During what I think of as the romantic era, Poulidor had an incredible run at the Tour without winning, and Bobet won some grand tours and some Monuments. In this modern era (for me: after Hinault), we've had multiple Monument winners win a grand tour (such as Valverde and Kelly, with Kelly the better rider in general), and then we've got someone like Roglic, the true GC rider. Sure there was a Monument that was kind of a fluke (both Pogacar and Hirschi might have won, and twitchy Alaphilippe deserved relegation), but what matters are the 5 grand tours and all these wins across the 1 week GC races except for the Tour de Suisse (you'd think he'd race it to get the set of them all). In this era, since 2000 or so, maybe he meets the description as best non-Tour winner. How many GC riders have these wins and not the Tour? To compare to other eras really is not possible. He's his own unique rider, and it's been amazing watching him for the past many years. That's about all we can say.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Ease up on a brother!bobo01-04-2025
- Primoz finds ways to win. Too bad he'll never take Tour de France.awp01-04-2025
- I don't think I would ever count Wout van Aert out of a race if his head is in it. He is a serious talent.awp01-04-2025