Wout van Aert on current Covid outbreaks in the peloton: "It is definitely something that will come into play this spring"

Whilst on a training camp in Tenerife with the Jumbo-Visma squad, Wout van Aert has talked about some of the subjects that have been widely discussed in cycling in the past few weeks.

In an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, van Aert has spoken about several topics, the first being the proposal that has been popularized by Chris Froome when he questioned "Is it really necessary for us to have time trial bikes in road cycling?" in a recent video. Van Aert had a contradicting opinion regarding that topic, “very simple: bullshit. You can say, ‘I no longer train with a time trial bike on the public road, because that is dangerous’. That’s right, I can speak for myself about that. But as a rider you also have to take care of your own safety. That’s not to say it’s Bernal’s own fault for riding into a bus. That’s an extreme accident, but I think it’s a bit weird to ban the time trial bike because of that."

“Time trials are super interesting, it is the only discipline in cycling where you have a bit of the Formula 1 feeling and can really come up with innovation. Where it’s not just steps. Sometimes the price can be more than that," he justified. Understandibly being a time-trial expert, van Aert has came out in defence of the discipline, which came onto the table as a debate once again after Egan Bernal's recent accident. 

As for the current Covid situation in the peloton van Aert also has his view on how the situation should be evolving: “The fear is there now. You don’t even have to be sick, one positive test and all your preparation has been for nothing. I’m not going to present myself as an expert or virologist, but just now that everyone is celebrating that the corona crisis is over, we are going to the craziest measures we’ve had in two years."

Since the start of the season the peloton has been hit by dozens of positive cases, with names such as Tadej Pogacar, Peter Sagan, Nairo Quintana, Kasper Asgreen, Jakob Fuglsang between those who have tested positive. In some races several teams have had to abandon due to active outbreaks, such as the ongoing Vuelta a Andalucia where both Gazprom - Rusvelo and Human Powered Health abandoned the race after the outbreak spread.

“I think it’s time to let go of the whole test story and start looking at corona the way we view other diseases. We weren’t tested for the flu or a cold in the past, Of course, if you get sick, you go home. But you see how easily the virus goes around in the first races. It is definitely something that will come into play this spring," he added.

“I understand the measures that are now in place, but it is a situation that is not sustainable. If omicron remains what it is now – not super dangerous, if I may say so – then I would be sad if we have to go on for a whole year as we are now," he concluded.

Van Aert is currently on a training camp where Jumbo-Visma have gotten in many riders of it's leading bubble, where the Belgian has his main support crew for the classics alongside him in Tiesj Benoot, Tosh van der Sande and Nathan van Hooydonck, whilst the like of Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Steven Kruijswijk and Tom Dumoulin have also been up in the volcano Teide for almost three weeks. Tom Dumoulin is set to start his season today at the UAE Tour.