Wout van Aert crashed on 'Vuelta knee' in Paris-Roubaix and reflects on his cobbled classics campaign

Wout van Aert had been focusing for weeks, months even, on these first two weeks of April. In both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the Belgian leader of Visma | Lease a Bike finished in fourth place, the spot that often feels like just missing out (though in today’s cycling era, that’s debatable). After the race, Van Aert, honest as ever, gave his thoughts: “Fourth was my place today, I think.”

Right after coasting to a stop at the Roubaix velodrome, Van Aert, ever the family man, sought out his loved ones. “That’s always nice. No matter how you perform, they’re always proud of you. I’m glad they’re here,” said the Visma | Lease a Bike rider on this second Sunday of April.

Since January, it had been clear that this would be the moment to evaluate Van Aert’s cobbled classics campaign. That campaign consisted of a much-discussed second place in Dwars door Vlaanderen, and fourth places in the two Monuments. “I have no regrets about how I prepared and raced, so I have to be satisfied. I’m happy with what I’ve done. This is cycling,” he concluded.

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Van Aert doesn't expect any lasting issues from crash

In Roubaix, Wout van Aert seemed to be on the back foot from the very first cobbled sector, but eventually managed to fight his way back toward the front by the end. "I was involved in a crash just before the first sector. It wasn’t too bad, but it meant I had to race from the back for a long time. In the Forest of Wallers I didn’t have the legs yet, I just wasn’t good enough there."

The Belgian rode on with a bloody knee, the same one he injured during the Vuelta. "Whether it will bother me going forward, I don’t know. I don’t think so. At least during the race, I didn’t feel any pain from it." He could have benefited from the much-discussed Gravaa tire pressure system. "It worked flawlessly. I had no bad luck. It worked great, but you still need good legs."

Later in the race, Van Aert found his rhythm again. "Matthew Brennan, my teammate, stayed with me for a long time. That was great to see. We tried to work together. In the end, it was a bit of a surprise that I was still able to fight for the podium."

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Van Aert not ready for a break just yet

More than fourth place wasn’t in the cards, Wout van Aert admitted. “So yeah, fourth was my place, I think. Same result as last week and also the same podium, at least the same riders, so you have to admit that there were three guys stronger. Especially Mads Pedersen, who dropped from the front due to bad luck, I can’t argue with that. He was stronger. He launched his sprint early, and all I could do was stay in his slipstream. I didn’t have full confidence in the sprint, but after a long, tough race, a sprint is always different. Or at least, it can be.”

While Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen are now taking some rest, Van Aert is already lining up for his next race this Friday. “I’m going to race Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race. The season has just started and the Giro is coming up fast too...” the ever-eager Van Aert concluded.

Read also

Van der Poel regrets beating Pogacar due to crash, for the race and for himself: "Really suffered"

🎥 Van der Poel hit in the face with Visma | Lease a Bike water bottle during dramatic Paris-Roubaix finale: "Enough to break my jaw"

🎥 Pogacar (bleeding after 3-ton crash) and Van Aert (bleeding knee) crash, Pedersen and Ganna puncture, Teunissen crashes

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