"To be honest, I don't think I was ever at my best level in 2023" admits Wout van Aert

Whilst 2023 was still an impressive year for Wout van Aert, by his own lofty standards, the Belgian was a few wins short of what we would come to expect.

Speaking at the Team Visma | Lease a Bike presentation, van Aert admitted 2023 perhaps wasn't his best year. "To be honest, I don't think I was ever at my best level in 2023. There were several reasons for that, but I never felt like I did in 2022," he admits. "I felt that I was missing a percentage and yet I could have won more races with that form if things had gone differently."

Van Aert took just five wins in 2023, the E3 Saxo Classic, the Belgian time-trial championships, a stage and the overall at the Tour of Britain and at Coppa Bernocchi. "I got sick after the cyclocross season, which took a lot of energy towards the spring. From there I was never really stable, it was with too many ups and downs," he recalls. "After that there were some small things, but in general you can say that after the Cyclocross World Championships you have a month to prepare for the spring. If all goes well, it could work. But when something goes wrong, it becomes difficult. That's how I experienced it."

In 2024, van Aert will tread new ground and make a Giro d'Italia debut. "It's not that I don't like the Tour, or that I don't want to be there. But I also like other races, and if I want to do the Giro and the Vuelta, I have to make choices," he clarifies. "The focus for the classics will always be there, so the Giro-Tour combination is not an option. There was more of one option: skipping the Tour. If the men start in July, I think I will miss it. Last year I actually wanted to do the Giro, but then we decided to ride the Tour again. So it had been in my head for some time and with the Games in 2024 it makes the choice easier."