Wout van Aert: "The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are once again circled red in the agenda"
Cycling
Wout van Aert's will is unbreakable and after a season marked by two horrible crashes, he starts 2025 with big goals once again, hoping to win a monument in the spring and be a key player at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.
“It was a season full of ups and downs. Besides some good results and victories, there were of course the two heavy crashes. That kept me off cycling for too long. Fortunately, I have recovered now," Van Aert said in a press release issued by the team. "I am not quite at my top level yet, but it will be a while before the road season starts.”
In 2024 he looked in great form in the spring until he crashed at Dwars door Vlaanderen, fracturing several bones and ruling him out of the cobbled monuments and his planned Giro d'Italia debut. He returned to the Tour de France but far from his best level. At the Vuelta a España we saw the best of the Belgian once again, but after winning three stages and leading both points and KOM classification, he suffered another nasty fall that led to a deep wound in the knee that ended his season prematurely.
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He has since improved quite a bit health wise, and returned to his winning ways in cyclocross with two victories (and perhaps more to come in the two remaining World Cups he will take part in). “Actually, I am currently in the same situation as last season. Again I have to fight back after a big crash. In the Vuelta I was back at my old top level, despite the heavy injury in the spring and the difficult period that followed. The good feeling I had again in Spain gives me a lot of confidence that I will return to top level again”
Van Aert starts his season at the Clàsica Jaen Paraiso Interior and then links that up with the Volta ao Algarve where he will have the pleasant company of none other than Jonas Vingegaard. He will then race Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne before going on a training camp and hitting the cobbled classics full speed with the main goals at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. “The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are once again circled red in the agenda," he admits, both still missing from his palmarès.
After the cobbles he takes some rest and will aim for the Giro d'Italia, where he will be of help to Olav Kooij in the pure bunch sprints, Simon Yates in the mountains but he should have several opportunities for himself throughout the three weeks.
"It will be a busy year for me. “After the spring classics, I will leave to Italy and ride the Giro d'Italia, where we will go for stage wins. After the Giro, there will be an altitude training camp on the program to then be fresh at the start of the Tour de France. With Jonas, we will be fighting for a third Tour victory.” At the Tour his role will not be too different, but the team aims for the overall win and he may have an extra responsibility supporting Jonas Vingegaard.
Van Aert also commented on the lifetime contract he has with the Dutch team, the only professional rider in the current peloton to have one. “It's a nice gesture from the team, that they even were thinking about such a contract. This team feels like home. I can get the best out of myself here and we always go for the best results. That will be no different in 202," he concluded.
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- Yeh he is cool. I hope he has a good year.1stpastthepost14-01-2025
- Lol good one. I hope Mr Angry gets the point.1stpastthepost14-01-2025
- Go in peace my friend. Eat some fruit and move on.roadman5412114-01-2025
- Killing is not something you can get by with by saying you're sorry. What kind of a person you need to be to kill for fun? How will end a person who starts with killing? Trek has a big + for me forever, for getting rid of him.mikolajjj14-01-2025
- In reality, the one thing Roglic needs to do is not crash.mdemartino14-01-2025
- Okay lets turn this around. So you mikolaiji did something wrong that you regretted. In retrospect thinking it over you realised your mistake you apologised, said you where sorry about what you had done and then tried to move on with your life and put it behind you. Would you like to be reminded of it by some anonymous person on a forum?roadman5412114-01-2025
- Alaphilippe exhudes character.roadman5412114-01-2025
- Comment is nasty? And killing cats for fun is cool?mikolajjj14-01-2025
- Oh he said he was sorry? I guess we can forget it then, that he killed a cat just for fun! Such a nice boy, always says "hello".mikolajjj14-01-2025
- You are out of order there mikoli! No need for that sort of nasty comment.1stpastthepost14-01-2025