Visma DS blames himself for Dwars door Vlaanderen shocker: "It is my mistake and responsibility to anticipate Wout's cramps in order to win the race"
Cycling
Hell froze and Wout Van Aert lost the sprint for victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen to, checks notes, Neilson Powless. Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann only blames himself for not anticipating such outcome by deploying different strategy.
The three riders in front made their own tactics. "And I didn’t overrule that," Niermann sighed afterwards at WielerFlits. "I am responsible for the tactics. Wout had the confidence to win the sprint, but in hindsight I should have made the decision that they had to attack one by one to get Powless off."
Visma had the race perfectly under control with three against one scenario, but didn't use their numbers in any way. "It was on a plate for us in the last kilometers. It can happen that he had cramps in the sprint. So it is my mistake and responsibility to anticipate that in order to win the race. I didn’t do that."
Was the team too keen to win with Van Aert? "Of course it would have been great if Wout had won and if the chasers weren’t so close behind, it wouldn’t have been a risk to attack. That would have been possible at the end, but we had confidence that Wout would win the sprint. Now it’s clear that you can see strange things after such a long final. Nine times out of ten Wout wins, but not this time. That’s no excuse."
"There is a lot of disappointment among us. They rode a perfect race until the last straight. But normally Wout wins that sprint. He had very good legs and also rode a great race. You don't think of this scenario. The easiest scenario to win is that someone rides to the finish alone. That's how we've done it in recent years. This was a big mistake."
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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