"Wout knows what he needs to be good" - Sven Nys intrigued by Van Aert's chances at Belgian National Championships
Cycling
Having won the Belgian tricolor back in 2021, whether or not Wout van Aert will start as one of the favourites for the 2024 edition isn't completely clear. With just four race days in his legs since a nasty spring ending crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen the level of the Belgian superstar isn't fully known.
"Wout van Aert is quietly working hard," previews Belgian cycling legend, Sven Nys in conversation with Sporza and he is correct too. At altitude in Tignes alongside the likes of Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Christophe Laporte among others, van Aert has been seen working hard in order to best position himself for a spot on the Tour de France lineup.
At the Belgian National Championships, van Aert will up against the likes of reigning champion Remco Evenepoel, 2022 winner Tim Merlier and Alpecin-Deceuninck sprint star Jasper Philipsen among others, in a very competitive field. "We saw van Aert grow every day in the Tour of Norway," Nys recalls, referencing his compatriot's recent racing return. "He could even have won in that last stage if he had had the space to fully develop his sprint."
"Now he has had an additional training at altitude and the hardness in training. Wout knows what he needs to be good," continues Nys, whose own son Thibau Nys has also starred of late and can't be ruled out of tricolor contention. "I think the Belgian Championship will be a final successful test for van Aert. I assume that."
On the defending champion, Nys doesn't believe Evenepoel will be going for the win this time around however. "During the Belgian Championships he will be an important factor in Merlier's team," Nys predicts, favouring the chances of Merlier over Evenepoel. "This will allow Merlier to slide somewhat into the shadows."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- 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
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Team Visma Lease a Bike Tignes training camp squad. 💛🖤 As it looks like this will be their Tour de France team: Jonas Vingegaard 🇩🇰 Wout Van Aert 🇧🇪 Sepp Kuss 🇺🇸 Matteo Jorgenson 🇺🇸 Tiesj Bennot 🇧🇪 Christophe Laporte 🇫🇷 Wilco Kelderman 🇳🇱 Jan Tratnik 🇸🇮
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