Wout van Aert dropped Pogacar on Montmarte; can he keep up in Flanders? "It's a logical goal in my career"
Cycling
Wout van Aert is a rider who has high ambitions. Despite the evolution of Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel in the past few years into an almost unreachable level, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider has not reduced his goals and continues to dream of victory at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders which he's been chasing for years.
"If I no longer believe in winning the Tour of Flanders, then maybe three more riders can think about it. It will be very difficult, but it's a logical goal in my career. A goal I want to keep pursuing," van Aert said in an interview with Café Koers. Van Aert has won in all Grand Tours, has been part of many Grand Tour wins with direct support and has won several high-level classics as well as cyclocross world titles. He aims for big wins that aren't yet in his palmarès.
And he believes that at 31 he can definitely continue to evolve further. "I have to believe that I can definitely start at a better level than last year. All the circumstances are right for me to be a little bit better." In 2025 this wasn't the case as he was returning from a large injury suffered at the 2024 Vuelta a España - which was his second major injury of the year, after he also crashed at high-speed at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Later in the year then van Aert would go on to win the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris, dropping Pogacar on the cobbled ascent to Montmartre and riding to a solo win. It can't be ignored that the circumstances were different, with the climb being much less difficult than those of Flanders and off the back of a three-week race, however the Belgian did what no other rider managed to in 2025.
He looks back at the 2025 edition of Flanders, where he reached his best form, but had two of he world's very best ahead of him - besides Mads Pedersen and his teammate Jasper Stuyven. "If you look at last year's race conditions, I think it was against us that day that Mathieu had been ill and was just a little bit weaker than Tadej. If Mathieu had been closer to Tadej, they would have neutralized each other for even longer," he argues. "They often work very well together, but in those last ten kilometers, it's a different story."
"The worst-case scenario was that someone was out front alone after the Paterberg with a big gap. That's what happened. Maybe there will be an edition where we can follow, or where they'll look at each other. Then we'll be there first with the team." With Matteo Jorgenson, Christophe Laporte and other high-level figures in the team, Visma can definitely still make an impact.
Van Aert on Evenepoel
"The races I'm closest to are the cobbled races. Tadej is a phenomenon, and it's amazing how good he is on all terrains, but I'll keep trying. Remco Evenepoel's chances? Tadej makes it look easy, but Remco sometimes makes it look easy too," the Olmypic Champion's compatriot shared. And this spring, it is quite possible that we will see Evenepoel be a factor in Flanders too. "I wouldn't dare say he won't be competing right away".
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
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.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
- Buitrago, was he their best rider in 2026? He's the chief loss for them and Martinez and Tiberi (especially) have to step up or they will be overtaken by Bahrain's younger riders like Omrzel. I'm still somewhat high on Martinez but Tiberi, after showing signs of promise, has fizzled. Bahrain still has a good team but they need to improve and exceed expectations. I'd be happy if Mohoric could manage to return to his better form for maybe one last year at least.flyer14-11-2026
- Hmmm, "... I just gained 30 seconds purely off the bike. Because it's really a big, big improvement compared to the previous bike". Is that marketing for Specialized or serious valid hype, or something in between? Very likely the former.flyer14-11-2026
- Nothing revelatory or controversial. Why do we have to report on Bruyneel's or Armstrong's thinking. It's a shame and enough that the Move's on TV and that people watch it .flyer14-11-2026
- Makes sense that training from home is a big asset or advantage but it's still remarkable that he can put in three quality majors and not pay some heavy price for the exertion. I wish he would have won that tour stage that his crash while leading allowed Carapaz the win. He's a darn good rider and teammate.flyer14-11-2026
- Sounds like we all agree with the over under exaggeration: "The German’s signing does not guarantee that Evenepoel will win the Tour in 2027. "flyer14-11-2026
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