Fourth in Paris-Roubaix as on the Tour of Flanders a week ago, Wout Van Aert did not meet the expectations placed in him but finished the race much better. A fairly paradoxical situation.
The end of the Tour of Flanders had gave hope to those who had lost it during the first Flanderian classics. Back among the favorites from Paris-Roubaix, Wout van Aert has almost never been illusing. His delay because of a fall at the start of the race looked like a premonitory sign of what was going to happen.
“From the start of the race, when there were still dozens of runners in the peloton, we felt that he was behind. He could no longer be where he should have been. I think the problem is above all mental but it therefore forces him to make additional efforts to come back. He has less the feeling and no longer wants to take the same risks.reacted Cyril Saugrain after the race.
However, WVA had followed well during the first attack by the favorites and he was the first to jump into the wheel of Tadej Pogacar When the world champion accelerated in the Arenberg hole. But, without further ado, he only lost places, little by little. At the exit, the Belgian then found himself in a third group.
Back in the pursuing group, he saw his delay only increased, showing that he had to say goodbye to all final ambitions. When his group exploded, he suffered enormously to reintegrate him. But as during the Tour des Flanders, WVA seemed to improve in the last part of the race by being one of the most active in pugcacar and Mathieu van der Poel Before still failing at the foot of the podium.
