"That simply has to improve" - Visma teammate on Visma's main mistake at E3
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike has not been having the best time in the cobbled classics thus far this season, and Tiesj Benoot was quite honest about the team's errors at the start of Gent Wevelgem. Particularly, what went wrong at the E3 Saxo Classic with the team and Wout van Aert.
“Personally, I certainly had good legs. We were just a bit too far in the run-up to the Taaienberg and that had major consequences for the rest of the race," the Belgian said in words to Wielerflits this morning. "We were well grouped, but just a bit too far".
"That simply has to improve, and then we will certainly have the condition to continue fighting for the victories. In addition, we should not deny that Mathieu is ‘outstanding’ at the moment. The position has to improve a bit and then you get a completely different race.”
Benoot and Visma are well used to doing it over the past few years, taking many high-level wins as well as a result, however in 2025 that is not being the case. Last year's big crashes from Wout van Aert may also certainly play a role in this difficulty to position at the crucial moments. Nevertheless, the Belgian has put full focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and there is still room for improvement.
“I notice that those extra kilometres do me good. We hadn’t raced for a long time and it’s good to include this. It’s a 250 kilometre race," Benoot said of today's race, where he and Matteo Jorgenson may have free card in the hills. "In the run-up to the Ronde van Vlaanderen, that’s something I was also very happy with last year.”
The race will also have strong winds, but ultimately the team will also keep a close eye on Olav Kooij. "It's very simple. In De Moeren (the flat section before the day's climbs, ed.) it's going to be crazy, it's going to be completely crazy. We have to be there with as many riders as possible. After the last time Kemmelberg we'll have to re-evaluate whether we can sprint with Olav [Kooij] or whether we have riders in front. I would really like to race in the hills, but then you have to be in the echelons, of course," he concluded.
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- i completely agree. wouter has been through a meat grinder. he’s such a class act, a man of such character that he would never complain or make excuses, that’s why it’s so infuriating to hear him spoken about as if he was failing, choking, or in any way not fulfilling what’s expected of him. i get it, he’s a PRO, so part of what he gets paid for is to be a target for anyone with an opinion. fair enough. MY opinion is that he needs TIME to overcome a pile of injuries. i hope he gets there, because he deserves a pile of wins.OCexile02-04-2025
- I just went through the list of events in his recent riding history listed in another article (so not including his very expensive legal affair and any potential trouble at home) and it’s a half miracle he’s still riding at all. He's outfallen Roglič for sure, who always came away RELATIVELY unharmed.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- ugh. slice and dice this any way you like. if you’re one of the belgians TRYING to believe wout is going to be in the fight at de ronde and roubaix, this is an ice cold dose of reality. my opinion is that nobody — ESPECIALLY his own team — should have been fanning any expectations of wout at this point after what he’s endured.OCexile02-04-2025
- I guess when you’re high, you don’t (need to) focus on anything ;-)Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- True but things also change, Primoz will get older, Remco crashes, MJ isn’t peaking yet and people can improve their weaknesses faster than others improve their strengths, cf MVDP climbing, JV TTing.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Sorry, yeah doesn’t look great but it seems all the recent context gets completely ignored in order to make a big story out of this. Honestly, did anyone at this point really expect Wout to suddenly have recovered all his missing form? Respect to Powless but he’s no nobody, his 2022-2023 presaged something like this. Yes they messed up but it also nearly worked, impossible to know how good your opponent is going to be in such a situation unkess it’s an in form Pog or MVDP. I’d not see this as a disaster but a really bad call, there are positives, they distanced a very strong 2nd group (Mads might be saving himself though) and Wout was very close to a place he’s not heen in a long time. I’d call that progress. Only a few meters would have led to completely different headlines. Why make everything so boack and white? Wout obviously understands and it is in part everyone putting all that pressure on him that led to him making a bad call. That said, had he let his mates go for the win (no guarantee either) héd have received different criticism.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Pogi is just had 9 days of racing.
James2631802-04-2025 - I’d advise doing brain scans during max efforts, you never know, he may be having micro blackouts without realising it at the time and with a crash you tend not to remember it after either. Like when you nod off a split second while driving, or realise you can’t remember any details from the last few km.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- I can't believe what I just saw. Reminds me of Ian Stannard beating 3 Quickstep riders in Omloop. Not sure what's going on with Wout. Maybe just needs more time, but he has not looked great since that Vuelta crash.Pedalmasher02-04-2025
- They wanted Wout to win so they chose a losing tacticsvappaxbipmv02-04-2025