Wout van Aert back on Strava after tough day and shares remarkable Dwars door Vlaanderen sprint data

Van Aert was disappointed after the finish on Wednesday, having used Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot to sprint for the win. However, that win did not materialize because Van Aert felt his legs cramping, and Neilson Powless, riding for EF Education-EasyPost, was fresh enough to keep going. Visma thus finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th. "I am fully responsible for the loss. I decided to go for the sprint. I told Matteo and Tiesj that they had to control the race in the final and bring me to the finish line," he said afterward.

They failed because van Aert's sprint was not good enough. What do you mean not good enough? His Strava file shows that the Visma star reached a maximum speed of 58.5 kilometers per hour in his sprint, which is not typical for van Aert. If we look at a similar classic sprint from his E3 Saxo Classic win in 2023, he reached a sprint speed of 67.8 kilometers per hour, almost 10 kilometers per hour faster. A sprint in which he also started from high 40s per hour against Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.

According to former cyclist Sep Vanmarcke, Van Aert's sprint does not necessarily mean anything for the Tour of Flanders. "I think many riders will have had this feeling before - when you come from a high altitude where you trained in a very controlled way, and then you come to a classic with all those corners, twists and turns and having to accelerate over and over again, you can get cramp the first few times. You suffer from cramps during those first one-day races, and then it gets better," the Belgian said to Sporza.

Read more below the Strava post.

There was nothing more to be done. Should we be worried? Van Aert's priority was to get mentally prepared for the Tour of Flanders, and he did a good job of that on Thursday. "Things don't always go how you want them to..." he said, opening his Strava file. "But a flat white and peanut butter brownie can make up for a lot." Van Aert covered 59.48 kilometers at an average speed of 34.1 kilometers per hour. The Tour of Flanders recon ride usually takes place on Friday.

That is when it starts for Van Aert. As in previous years, he has made the Tour and Paris-Roubaix his two main goals. His E3 Saxo Classic and Dwars door Vlaanderen were merely warm-up races, which he would have liked to have won nonetheless. Tour of Flanders competitors Van der Poel and Pogacar are in top form, as proven by their impressive victories in Strade Bianche, the UAE Tour (Pogacar), Milan-Sanremo, and the E3 (van der Poel).