Wout van Aert won the E3 Saxo Classic last season, which is the race which replicates the Tour of Flanders the best. However he hasn't yet managed to win the cobbled monument, or Paris-Roubaix, and Merijn Zeeman believes it comes down to special riders such as Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.
"In a classic, the influence of the team may be less than in a Grand Tour. However, I'm sure we'll be able to win a Monument. We have all the ingredients for that in-house. Without top riders like Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar, Wout would probably have won the Tour of Flanders a few times," Zeeman shared with In de Leiderstrui. The Belgian has already proven countless times to be a rider strong enough to win one of those two monuments, but for one reason or another it hasn't clicked. In Flanders he was second in a sprint against van der Poel in 2020, and in 2022 when he was to go in as the man to beat, he was forced out because of a Covid-19 infection.
At Paris-Roubaix the story is not too different, he finished second in 2022 and third last year, having punctured during an attack on the final crucial cobbled sector. Luck was not always on the side of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider, who also accumulated podium results at Milano-Sanremo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the World Championships over the past few years. Consistency is assured, but two generational riders occasionally get the best of him.
"Those two are so extremely good. That makes winning a classic even more difficult. This generation of cyclists is extraordinarily good," Zeeman admits. "In a man-to-man situation at the end of a race it is very difficult to beat Mathieu or Tadej. That applies to the entire peloton, but also to us." This spring the challenge will be the same, as van Aert is set to face off with the two at the Tour of Flanders, but only van der Poel in Roubaix. However, his biggest rival has recently defeated him on several occasions during cyclocross races and looks to be in the form of his life over the past 12 months.
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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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
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
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- 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
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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