"You win or you learn" - Wout van Aert learns from past leadout mistakes at Giro d'Italia to deliver Olav Kooij to victory
Cycling
Wout van Aert is struggling with positioning for a while over the past year and a half, partly due to his crashes, partly due to the increasing level of risks that riders are willing to take. But today, in the finale of the Giro d'Italia stage, he was present at the right moment and delivered Olav Kooij into a stage win.
"It is very nice to see Olav win after a very good lead-out, I must say. We used our horsepower and he has the kick, fantastic," van Aert said in a post-race interview. We took our responsibility, went for it".
Team Visma | Lease a Bike has spent the day at the head of the peloton, not for the first time, and has delivered a big performance that was worth the sweat this time around. Edoardo Affini and Wout van Aert, two big rouleurs, were able to get themselves in the head of the peloton inside the final 2 kilometers when other leadouts lacked the firepower to stay in front.
Van Aert was present this time around, picking up the pace early on, but maintaining it into the final corner, then getting Kooij into the final sprint in perfect position, which allowed his teammate to take the victory.
"Edo set us off perfectly and then it was up to Olav and me to finish it off. We wanted to take the lead towards that last corner. And that worked. Me and Edo had the power and we knew that if we could get Olav in position, he would be hard to beat," he tells.
It was hard over the past weeks to deliver Kooij perfectly to the finish, but today it earned the team a win. "There is one saying: you win or you learn. The last few times we did not win, but we learned from that. This time we stayed calm and we could use each other well".
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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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Brucegel14-11-2026 - I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
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