"The question is how much weight he has to lose and what sacrifices he is and is not willing to make" - José de Cauwer's on Wout van Aert's Giro d'Italia debut
Cycling
Wout van Aert may make his Giro d'Italia debut in 2024. Although team CEO Richard Plugge says the decision has not yet been made, the signs point towards that taking place mostly because of the Olympic Games' timing next season. Much is already said of this debut, which seems to be only a matter of time.
"The fact that Van Aert played the role of super domestique in the Tour in recent years was nice and nice for Jumbo-Visma and Jonas Vingegaard," José de Cauwer told Sporza. "But if Van Aert were your son and you saw him working so hard for someone else in the Tour, you would think to yourself: 'If he can calm down a bit, he might be able to become world champion in Glasgow.' Some argue that, whilst others believe van Aert prepared perfectly for the World Championships - with stage win focus, no green jersey battle and an early abandon from the race.
Van Aert looked very strong in August but was faced with a stronger Mathieu van der Poel. The Olympic Games present another big goal for the Belgian next summer and alongside other favourite for the title, van Aert should race the Giro d'Italia and then have a specific preparation towards Paris. However, the report of Gazzetta dello Sport also hints towards a possible overall classification chase.
With the cobbled classics as a priority in the spring, it's unsure how that would fit. Besides the obvious preparation factor, De Cauwer also questions the viability of GC stint for a rider of the weight of van Aert. "If he actually goes for a classification, the question is how much weight he has to lose and what sacrifices he is and is not willing to make," he argues.
"If he wins the Giro, that would be fantastic. That would be a turning point in his career as a cyclist. But if Van Aert excels in a few stages, that would also be very nice," he says, on what should be perhaps the most logic out of the routes he can take.
In the future however, with proper preparation, this could be an incredibly interesting question for the Jumbo-Visma rider. "I wonder whether Van Aert wants to focus on the classifications again for three weeks. With classification ambitions you put a lot of pressure on yourself. I assume that Van Aert also still wants to win the Tour of Flanders and/or Paris-Roubaix, which also creates pressure."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Pogačar and Ciccone had their work cut out here 😅 Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard are hard to follow when they're in beast mode 🥵💪️ ______________ 🇫🇷 #TDF2023
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