Wout van Aert: "I hate losing to Mathieu, but I don't hate him as a person"

The rivalry of Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel is one that marks a generation of cycling. On the road and off the road, the two have battled for years almost at the same level. Ending his season, the Jumbo-Visma rider looks back on what was a mixed season.

“This is obviously not my best season ever, but it is also far from bad. It is mediocre. Maybe it is normal for once that things did not always go from highlight to highlight and that there is a year in between when things get a little more difficult," van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws. “There were a few second places I could accept, but there were also moments where it could have been different. Paris-Roubaix could also have gone differently without a flat tire. If you add that up, you could have had a completely different year, and a completely different feeling."

It was another year of tremendous quality and consistency for the Jumbo-Visma rider however it lacked the big wins. Jack of all trades, master of none is a good way to describe it, van Aert always found someone slightly stronger on the day. In other occasions, such as Paris-Roubaix, bad luck took him out of the fight for victory just as he looked to attack and ride by himself. He has a final opportunity to take a big win today at the Gravel World Championships.

He's also tried out a leadout role at the Tour of Britain, helping Olav Kooij to multiple wins. According to him, the quality of the team helps shed pressure off: "This is more of a relief. When I was still a full-time rider, I started to tire more and more that it was always all about me. Also on the road the pressure was always on me in those first years. But there is so much quality in this team that many riders can win: that is a much more fun way to do this sport.”

Some of those losses had Mathieu van der Poel in it's origin. Not only on the road, but back in February the two faced off at the cyclocross World Championships at a very high level and he was beaten in a one-on-one sprint. “I hate losing to Mathieu, but I don't hate him as a person. Perhaps we have made each other better," he says.

"We understand that we have to accept each other's presence and that it is good for the sport and for ourselves. This remains a rivalry where we do not communicate as friends. For both of us it is a goal to beat each other and be better than the other. For that you need that sense of competition. But if something needs to be discussed, it is no problem to talk to him in the peloton.”