Thomas Dekker sees that Visma didn't actually know how to set up Wout Van Aert into the sprint at Dwars door Vlaanderen: "They rode way too hard"
Cycling
Wout Van Aert as well as whole Visma | Lease a Bike was under heavy criticism for their tactical performance in the final of Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen. But Thomas Dekker points out that, besides the fact that Visma obviously shouldn't have been betting on sprint in 3 vs 1 scenario, the lead-out by Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot for Van Aert only benefitted Neilson Powless.
Dekker explains this in the Live Slow, Ride Fast show: "Jorgenson can race very well and deliver enormous power, but imagine if Gianni Vermeersch had to do this for Mathieu van der Poel... That would have gone very differently, because at Team Visma | Lease a Bike they go into that sprint much too hard."
Powless was able to use that speed, says Dekker. "It should have been much more controlled. You shouldn't make sure that the fourth gets the most speed. That way, a lot of momentum was created for Powless."
Afterwards Van Aert was very critical of himself. "You could see in Jorgenson's eyes that he didn't understand it. He also said that Powless is just very fast. It's unique how they rode, but it does cover a bit of the load of the spring how it went now."
Van Aert will act differently in the Tour of Flanders because of Dwars door Vlaanderen, Dekker expects. "His decisions at the Tour will be different because of today. He will tell Jorgenson to keep riding. Then he will not have done anything wrong. That's how it will be, because he is a human being. But he is not the absolute leader at the moment."
Dekker also understood that Van Aert said that he wanted to go for himself. "In Dwars door Vlaanderen he had to do that too, because the other two (Van der Poel and Pogacar, ed.) weren't there. But yes, I am convinced that with those same legs he could have won."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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