"Wout once asked me for advice for Milano-Sanremo - and he won!" - Oliver Naesen may have played crucial role in Wout Van Aert's 2020 Milano-Sanremo title
Cycling
Once one of the top classics riders in the world, the 34-year-old Oliver Naesen is not to be written off just yet. The experienced Belgian is always in the thick of action in the decisive moments of his favourite Flemish races and a podium is never too far off his reach.
Something he has in common with a Belgian superstar Wout van Aert, sometimes jokingly nicknamed 'Wout van Second' for his long list of runner-up results at the biggest events. But it may have been just thanks to Naesen's help that he managed to tick off at least one major box in 2019. "What I like about Wout is that he is so humble, despite the fact that he is so incredibly good," Naesen he begins at the VTM NIEUWS.
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He then brings up a nice anecdote with the Belgian all-rounder. "Wout once asked me for advice for Milano-Sanremo. Can you believe it?! Such a rider... How to approach the race, where to shoot his arrows and where not, things like that. I gave him two or three tips, and he won that race. But certainly not thanks to me."
But it's still not the same Naesen that was rolling around before the COVID outbreak in 2020. Just before all the racing had stopped, Naesen was on top of his game. Having won the Bretagne Classic twice in previous years, he seemed ready to finally secure a major title. Those who expected this success would come on cobbled hills in Flanders couldn't be more wrong because Naesen nearly snatched a victory at the Milano-Sanremo 2019, losing only to Julian Alaphilippe at the time.
And so it's natural that the Visma | Lease a Bike rider approached his Decathlon AG2R compatriot for some tips. The 34-year-old wouldn't admit any contribution on Van Aert's 2020 triumph, but perhaps his insight was what tipped the scales in Van Aert's favor in a duel against, ironically, the same rider - Julian Alaphilippe - who defeated Naesen a year earlier.
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025