Spring classics continue to be Wout van Aert's dream into 2025: My absolute main goals remain the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix

Wout van Aert is currently training and preparing for the 2025 season, which will start off in a few days at the Zilvermeercross Mol in Belgium. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider will only race a few crosses and devote his whole focus to the spring classics, where he dreams to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

“For my absolute main goals, I want to do everything to achieve them. My motivation, that is intrinsic to me. I have always wanted to be the best in everything, ever since I was a child," van Aert said in conversation with Red Bull, a personal sponsor. "That urge just comes back, without me wanting it or without me having to do anything for it. If I haven't had a competition for a few weeks, I immediately feel like working hard. The people around me help me to put things into perspective, and to realize that there are other things too. So they are important to maintain the balance.”

In Visma he finds a structure willing and capable of helping him achieve these goals, but over the last few years he has either had bad luck or incredibly strong rivals that pushed him back to minor places in the monuments. But this spring, he goes against Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar once again: “I want to win competitions that I dream of. My absolute main goals remain the Tour [of Flanders] and Paris-Roubaix. When I think about that, I just want to do everything to achieve it.”

For this, the Belgian is likely to race a similar calendar to last winter, doing a few races in February including the opening weekend, before taking on an altitude camp straight into the cobbled classics - something a few more riders are already opting to do this spring.

For cyclocross, he shrugs off the ambition, focusing instead on his recovery, the 'fun' part of racing and doing what he knows is good for him overall. “My preparation has certainly gone differently than I had hoped. I had to focus on my rehabilitation for a very long time. Even now, I am still working on getting my right leg as strong as my left leg," he says, after a crash at the Vuelta a España left him with a deep wound in the knee that took months to fully heal. "As a result, there is of course less time to train specific cyclocross aspects (he refers to running, mostly, ed.). So it is also a question mark how competitive I will be.”

It will be a reduced calendar, with three World Cup races included, but no World Championships. “It is really a ritual for me to dive into that field in the winter and bridge that period. Sometimes – especially when you are injured – you think about taking it a bit easier for a winter. But just thinking about it... It actually makes me itch too much that I don't want to miss it. It's my second nature, my first love that I always return to."

Van Aert knows that despite his less than ideal form, he will still have a lot of eyes and pressure put on his shoulders. "Luckily, you get used to everything, including the role of favorite," he accepts. "It's just important to stay close to yourself and to know what your own goals are and how you view certain matches. Because of the setbacks I've had, it's realistic to reach my best level in the spring, but maybe not right now. As long as I keep that in mind, I don't have to worry too much about public opinion."