"Miracles don't exist in cycling these days" - Johan Museeuw gives Wout van Aert little chance of success in Flanders or Roubaix

With the Spring Classics in full flow, attentions are turning towards the Tour of Flanders and the next chance of Monument glory in 2025. When it comes to looking for potential winners of the race, Belgian icon Johan Museeuw admits his compatriot, Wout van Aert is much further down the list than he usually would be.

After struggling to make much of an impact on Opening Weekend, Van Aert was again unable to even take a top-10 at the E3 Saxo Classic in his last race. Somewhat contentiously, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar also skipped Gent Wevelgem last weekend, something Museeuw struggles to understand. "In my time, it was unthinkable to stay away from a race like Gent Wevelgem," analyses the three-time Tour of Flanders winner in quotes collected by Wieler Revue. "But that's the new cycling. Logically, there are now question marks about Wout van Aert's state of readiness."

"Even if Wout improves spectacularly this week, it will still be very difficult to follow Mathieu van der Poel or Tadej Pogacar at the Tour of Flanders," Museeuw continues. "It is a risk to end your altitude training camp so close to the big classics."

In fact, Museeuw believes Van Aert's hopes of glory might actually be higher on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, rather than the Tour of Flanders. "Roubaix is ​​a race that suits him better than the Tour," he explains further. "Mathieu's explosiveness is currently a lot higher than that of Wout van Aert, but that is of less use in a race like Paris-Roubaix."

"But anyway, Roubaix is ​​still two weeks away and I think Team Visma | Lease a Bike's intention is for Van Aert to be at his best in the Tour of Flanders. We shouldn't even talk about Paris-Roubaix yet. If Van Aert isn't at his best in Flanders, something has gone wrong," Museeuw continues. "And since miracles don't exist in cycling these days, I don't see Van Aert getting much better in a week."

In terms of the other competitors, Mads Pedersen sent out a big message by a 55km+ solo win at Gent Wevelgem. "Pedersen belongs to the group of big outsiders. But will he be able to follow Mathieu on the last time Kwaremont-Patersberg? No!" Museeuw doubts however.

As such, Museeuw is backing Mathieu van der Poel as the man to beat at the Tour of Flanders on April 6th. "Mathieu has once again managed to improve a few percent compared to last year," he notes. "You can put Mathieu and Pogacar on the same level for Flanders. Only Mathieu has a bit more experience in this type of competition than Pogacar. I do think that other teams should start thinking about how they are going to approach the competition tactically. If they wait until the last time Kwaremont, then there is no one who can follow."