Wout van Aert on Pogacar, Giro GC and 2024 crashes - "We all have to move up a gear compared to Tadej Pogacar"
Cycling
Wout van Aert is a rider with a lot of ambitions, rivals and opinions. Hence when talking to the Belgian rider, there is always a lot to dissect. Before starting his season at the Clásica Jaen Paraiso Interior he talked about an unlucky 2024, how he sees the upcoming battle with Tadej Pogacar, the Giro d'Italia debut and more.
"I manage to get on my bike without any lingering issues, but it has cost me a lot of time this winter," van Aert said in a press conference ahead of the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior, as reported by In de Leiderstrui. "I have a passion for road cycling and want to win, so I would be unhappy if I no longer dared to throw myself down a descent. Diving downhill used to be exciting, but now it's more a part of my job. When I was 18, I also tried to take a KOM in a descent. I wouldn't do that now, either."
In 2024 he suffered two massive falls - one at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, the other during the Vuelta a España - which derailed his season completely. After coming second to riders like Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel on many occasions it would be easy to lose the motivation, but this is not the case for the Belgian rider.
However, he certainly would like to see some safer racing and a 2025 campaign that is less decided by his falls. "Crashing is one thing, but suffering multiple fractures while crashing is another level. If we can work on safer races, where the consequences of a crash are less severe, that would be a great improvement".
With Jaén and the Volta ao Algarve, he hopes to open up his season with a win, and build towards the Opening Weekend where he will have some goals. Then an altitude camp before the final cobbled classics block - he will meet his two big rivals at the E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders, and potentially Paris-Roubaix if the World Champion makes the decision.
"I have been riding the Tour of Flanders since 2018, and from the first edition, I always thought I could win it one day. Is it ambition or obsession? Some people have created the idea that it is an obsession, but those have never been my words," he hits back. "If I said that I didn't care about Flanders and would just try something without further thought, how would you react?"
However he needs his absolute best level to finally take the win. Not only does he need to match and beat van der Poel, but this year a Pogacar too who in 2024 took a massive leap in performance. "We all have to move up a gear compared to Tadej Pogacar. I think he's raised the bar even higher, but that's how it goes every year; Jonas was better in 2023 than in 2022, and Pogacar was better again in 2024. So he will have to be better again in 2025 because we all keep improving."
Then comes the Giro d'Italia. With Olav Kooij aiming for the sprints and Simon Yates as the main climber, the Belgian's role will be somewhat open. He had already confirmed he wouldn't aim for pink jersey, but was asked nonetheless once again: "The Giro for the GC? That was a plan in the newspapers but not mine. And it never will be, definitely not," he assures.
"We are going for a GC with Simon Yates, and Olav Kooij and I are going for stages. If I look at the route, there will be opportunities almost every day. There are many climbs through the low mountain range and the necessary flat stages. In the Giro, Simon has more of a free role to see how far he can go, and then we will see how much support he needs."
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🇪🇸 #ClásicaJaén
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) February 17, 2025
Good to see you back in road racing, Wout! 🤩😎 pic.twitter.com/81GCvq5F7a
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
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