Wout van Aert is the man who can take on phenomenal Pogacar and Van der Poel: "He is meticulously preparing for Flanders and Roubaix"
Cycling
As expected, Milano-Sanremo turned out to be a two-man show of world champion Tadej Pogacar who challenged his predecessor - Mathieu van der Poel. Third time however was not the charm for the Slovenian who tried impossible and win with an attack already on Cipressa. In any case both men seem be in top shape, which bears a great promise towards the upcoming cobbled Classics.
"The question is what this means for the rest of the spring," former Lotto team manager Marc Sergeant writes in his analysis for Het Nieuwsblad. "Van der Poel may have emerged as the winner of the duel on Saturday, but that also had to do with the course. On the Poggio, Pogacar cannot drop the Dutchman because that climb is not steep enough."
According to Sergeant, the world champion's chances at the Tour of Flanders will be far greater with notably steeper climbs on the menu. "On the Oude Kwaremont or Paterberg, the Slovenian can play his qualities much better. Van der Poel is super explosive, but he has to drag a lot more kilos up. And give Pogacar fifteen seconds and they won't see him again."
Wout Van Aert
"But let's hope that we don't watch a duel between Pogacar and Van der Poel every time. And that they get more opposition," Sergeant continues. Who should that come from? The Belgian points to the greatest absentee of the concluded La Primavera: Wout van Aert.
The Visma | Lease a Bike rider didn't find his best legs at the early season Classics and therefore returned to the drawing board: "He is meticulously preparing for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix on the Teide. To be able to compete with those men. Only: the level of Pogacar and Van der Poel is exceptionally high," Sergeant concludes.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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Jumpyjohn25-03-202512
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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