Former Classics specialist doubts Van Aert: "When you expect something, he doesn’t deliver"

Wout van Aert will start part two of his classic spring in the E3 Saxo Classic this Friday. Many cycling fans would have preferred to see him in action in Strade Bianche and/or Milan-Sanremo, but the Belgian and his Visma | Lease a Bike team chose to go for optimal altitude training towards his two big goals: The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

On Wednesday, Van Aert and teammate Tiesj Benoot will head back to Belgium from Tenerife, where they have been training hard for the past three weeks. Van Aert opted for the same preparation as in 2024 when he could not ride The Tour of Flanders and the Hell of the North after a crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen. This approach required him to make tough choices: no Strade Bianche and/or Milan-Sanremo for the Belgian.

These are races that Van Aert has already won, just like the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem. However, a Monument is still missing from his list of achievements, so he is doing everything he can to ensure he is at his best for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, even if he has had to abandon other goals to do so.

They were disappointed that the Visma | Lease a Bike team leader did not appear at the start of 'their' races in Italy. After Milan-Sanremo, Michele Bartoli had his say in La Gazzetta dello Sport about everything he had and had not seen. According to the former winner of the Tour of Flanders, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar excelled in La Primavera.

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Bartoli commented on Van Aert: "He says he is training, but he has to compete with the others"

In addition to Van der Poel and Pogacar, Filippo Ganna particularly impressed Bartoli. "He is in top form and certainly a serious candidate to win Paris-Roubaix, for example. Nevertheless, Van der Poel and especially Pogacar remain the top favorites. When Pogacar is at the start, he is always the top favorite," says the former cyclist.

Bartoli also mentioned the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike. "Apart from Ganna, Van Aert is the only one who could still win. I'm still hoping for that, said the now 54-year-old Bartoli, who also won the Tour of Lombardy and Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice. 'But when you expect something from him, he doesn't deliver. I also wonder why he didn't participate in Milan-Sanremo. He says he's training, but he needs to compete with the others in races," the Italian advises.

And that is precisely what Van Aert will do on Friday in the E3 Saxo Classic. He will face Van der Poel and Ganna there, but not Pogacar. Like Van Aert, the Slovenian has set his sights on Paris-Roubaix and will, therefore, skip the E3 Saxo Classic. Van Aert and Pogacar will also both skip Gent-Wevelgem. Van Aert will focus on Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders.  

Read also

Decision made: No E3 or Gent-Wevelgem, but Roubaix for Pogacar; Narváez also skips both Flemish races

🎥 Van Aert gears up for the Classics – Belgian shares stunning helicopter footage and wraps up training in Tenerife

Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel both start week of E3 battle on gravel

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