Is Wout van Aert no longer a spring specialist? "He’ll always be slightly better in summer," says Bakelants

On the talk show Wielerclub Wattage, Belgian experts discussed van Aert's spring. The result was twice fourth place in the Monuments: not enough for a top rider. Like last year, he opted for a spring with few races and a training camp. And that, according to Dirk De Wolf, is where it went wrong. "He must race more and ride all the classics until the Amstel Gold Race. That includes Tirreno and Milan-Sanremo."

“De Lie did that last year, and it didn't go perfectly for him either," Bakelants observes. "Van Aert and De Lie are men who need to win races. They have to look in the mirror in the morning and say, 'I am the best.' Then they become convinced of it and keep winning." But the cyclo-cross rider has not managed to do that so far. "But now Wout is heading into those big races with zero wins. If your rival from the youth categories also gains the upper hand, you lose confidence."

Bakelants, a close friend of van Aert, sees light at the end of the tunnel. He believes that his compatriot is never at his best in the spring. It is only in the summer that he truly flourishes. "I don't think the spring is when Wout can get the most out of himself. Wout can train as much as he wants, but he will always be a little less in the spring than in the summer. Moreover, he won his only monument in the summer." In 2020, van Aert won Milan-Sanremo, which was held in August due to COVID-19. "For van der Poel, the opposite is true: he is good in the summer but never as outstanding as van Aert.

Should we give up on van Aert for the other classics? This weekend, he will ride both the Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race races where he has impressed before: in 2021, he finished second in the Brabantse Pijl and later that week won the Amstel Gold Race. He should be one to watch again this year. "He has a chance everywhere," says Bakelants. "He remains a top-class rider. Pogacar and van der Poel won't be there in the Brabantse Pijl. If those two are there, winning will be very difficult, even in the future. If you disregard those two, he's not having a bad spring."