Wout Van Aert gains Thijs Zonneveld's respect with a honest post-Dwars reaction: "As bad as he sprinted, that's how good his interview was"
Cycling
The iconic 2015 edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was revived this Wednesday with different protagonists at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Starring in main roles: Neilson Powless as Ian Stannard and Visma | Lease a Bike as Etixx - Quick Step. Belgian fans would have tears in their eyes again as Wout Van Aert couldn't deliver in the final sprint due to cramps.
The 30-year-old took all the blame on himself after the race, something that is applauded by journalist Thijs Zonneveld: "Holy shit! What a fantastic interview Wout van Aert gave after the finish. As bad as he sprinted, that's how good his interview was. It was one of the best interviews of athletes I've ever seen," says Zonneveld in his podcast In de Waaier.
Zonneveld especially praises Van Aert's honesty after the blow out: "A few minutes after the race, he takes full responsibility. I think it's very special because athletes are happy to be in front of the camera when things are going well, but not when things are going badly. And certainly not when they have messed it up themselves."
Zonneveld continues about the mental blow this is for Wout van Aert and his team. "It's so bad because this wasn't just a race. This should have been the race where they gained confidence. And instead, it's all about this now and it's a huge blow. All energy and morale is gone in an instant. Most footballers or tennis players would walk away after such an extreme disappointment or say: not now."
Zonneveld thinks that many other athletes would have told a different story after such a race. "It would have made perfect sense if he had been a bit defensive and highlighted the positive aspects. But instead, he is heartbreakingly honest and puts his finger on the sore spot. The fact that he said that he was thinking about himself for once touched my heart."
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- His basic attitude always has been (and we know age often reinforces inherent values), if I’m going down I’m going to try taking you with me.Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- I know it’s tradition and nice but to make the discussion more interesting, if an Arkea rider had driven up to tell Alpecin or UAE to ease off for Mozzato or Vauquelin having a P, would they have been as gentlemanly?Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- That’s probably about right although if they’d talked it over it would have been in all their interests to work together to chase Pog down because those 4 arriving at the finish in that scenario would have left all 4 with a chance of victory.Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- Exactly, that easily makes for a minute at the front. You don’t see Pog cracking often either (less often than MVDP even) but when he does it’s lights out and over too. This is completely normal and to be expected, at the level of competitiveness all these guys are they only crack once they’ve pushed beyond their manageable limit and there’s no coming back from that. When your rival forces you into the red to keep or catch up, it’s over, in that respect, well done to WVA who seems to be world champion in staying just outside the red for as long as he can.Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- If I remember well, Pidcock slowed, whether out of respect or strategically or just happy he could ease off a bit, only he knows. Your point?Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- I believe Mathieu rather gets beaten by a stronger rider than one who raced smarter. That is why he wanted to team up with Pogacar to drop the JV riders and Mads who were not helping in the chase of the first group since they had a teammate up front.JoostMehrtens08-04-2025
- Just shows that LA is not truly repentant. JUSTICE was served. No winner, no second , no third on the podium for those 7 years. No real winners could be determined, ever. Lance got to keep most of his money , he really should can it . He is toxic to cycling.dave08-04-2025
- Tricky one as while I agree Pogi and UAE are simply faster over a long distance which means Visma and MVP need to be as smart with energy use as can, it's also been proven in the past that one way for Pogi to be beaten is relentless attacks, to put him into the red. However that does require a rider to as good as sacrifice themselves for that one move which makes riskHoopoeChai07-04-2025
- Even if not technically against the rules, this is just bad etiquette and frankly I hope the rest of pelaton remembers Arkea don't care about etiquette or honoring tradition which means they shouldn't benifit from it.HoopoeChai07-04-2025
- The other issue is that Mad Petersen and Wout would have let MVDP do most of the work, as he kept showing he was stronger. MVDP did the strategy with the highest likelihood of victory, he just wasn't strong enough.acem8207-04-2025