Wout van Aert "has to be 110 percent" to challenge Tadej Pogacar in Spring Classics according to Michel Wuyts

Wout van Aert has announced a six-race calendar for the 2024 - 2025 cyclocross season. The reason for this reduced winter programme, is according to Team Visma | Lease a Bike at least, a desire to focus on peaking during the Spring Classics. According to Belgian cycling expert Michel Wuyts though, against Tadej Pogacar though, Van Aert might need to be even better than his peak.

"Tadej Pogacar is riding three Flemish five-star races from the E3 Saxo Classic to the Ronde. With his gluttony, he'll want to win those monsters," Wuyts writes in his column for Het Laatste Nieuws. "This world champion is capable of anything. I'm thinking of Van Aert now. He's realised since Tuesday that he has to be 110 percent at the beginning of April."

Given Pogacar's presence though, Wuyts notes how it is likely that UAE Team Emirates will control the races rather than Van Aert's Visma team. "It won't be as annoyingly boring as the Tour of '24 in '25. The greatest world champion of the past half century at the start, that's guaranteed top spectacle," he explains. "It goes without saying that Team UAE will set the pace. First of all for safety reasons. Unfortunately, Flanders still has too high casualty figures. Pogacar will rarely sit further than row two. Don't doubt his team. An ensemble with Wellens, Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Bjerg, Morgado, Herregodts, Narváez or Baroncini can handle that wild rhythm dance. Partly due to the injection of Belgians, Pogacar will be in tricky areas in the box. If a glitch causes chaos, he will conquer his plush seat himself. As he did in 2023. With overwhelming force."

Nevertheless, the Belgian expert is incredibly impressed by Pogacar and expects him to be at his best once again in the spring. "I find it heartwarming that he now dares to take on that seemingly impossible combination of Flanders-Ardennes again. And yes, the trio Amstel, Wallonne, Liège can also be added to his list. Great guys do great things," he concludes.