"Van Aert just wants to win two things and then his career will be complete" - Wout Van Aert will have another shot at winning his first Monument this year
Cycling
The latest episode of Kop over Kop focuses on upcoming Classics campaign and that inevitably means Wout Van Aert too. The Belgian has been one of the best classicsmen for quite some time now, yet he is still to score his first monumental victory. Analysts Jan Hermsen and Jeroen Vanbelleghem discuss the 'new approach' to preparation by the Visma | Lease a Bike rider.
"You see Van Aert's results and they are not bad. In recent years he has not done many crazy things. Then he starts thinking: 'Now it has to happen and now I will do it. I do it completely differently. I ride the cross differently and I will ride more quietly in other places.' Is it okay? I don't know."
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"Pogacar can say: I'm going to ride a different program every year, because I'm just ticking boxes. But Van Aert just wants to win two things and then his career will be complete. I would never choose to ignore things that are going well, but not deliver victory, to take a completely different approach. I think it is a risk," thinks Hermsen.
"Imagine you are Van Aert and you win Gent-Wevelgem, the E3 and Dwars door Vlaanderen, but you come second again in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Then we will say again on April 8 that it is a spring without monuments. I understand that he wants to do something different," says Vanbelleghem.
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- Fortunately and as you point out, more than one strategy is possible and worth trying and I’m sure all concerned riders are well informed and counselled on this subject and don’t need such basic personal advice through media from an outsider.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
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