And doubts were already creeping into his mind: why introvert Wout van Aert needs to shake off that immense sense of guilt as quickly as possible
He wanted to make the race hard and go for a good result, Wout van Aert said before the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen. Job done – but after missing the win due to cramp in the sprint, along with a personal tactical and, in his own words, selfish decision, Van Aert has saddled himself with a heavy burden of guilt just four days ahead of the Tour of Flanders... And doubts were already playing on his mind.
A second after the race, organiser Pavel Desmet struck the barriers with his fist. He would’ve loved to see Wout van Aert’s name on the roll of honour, but he was far from the most disappointed man in Waregem. That was the main character himself, who sat, disillusioned, a hundred metres away against another barrier, trying to come to terms with his second-place finish.
How are you feeling?
"Extremely disappointed. I made the call during the race to go for the win and asked Tiesj and Matteo to control things so I could ride to the line with Powless, but in the sprint I completely cramped up."
How did that happen?
"No idea. It happened the moment I kicked off the sprint. It was a serious cramp – it took a while after the line before it eased off."
Why did you make the call to go for the sprint yourself?
"After all the bad luck I had last year, and to give a response to the critics of the past few weeks, I really, really wanted this win. In my desperation to win it myself, I acted very selfishly. I feared a scenario where one of my teammates would win and I wouldn’t... That kind of thinking goes against my nature, and that just made the disappointment even worse. If you’re in a lead group of four with three teammates, you have to play it better. And we didn’t – because I was so convinced I’d finish it off myself."
So you’re taking full responsibility?
"Yes. In a race, you should always go for the best chance of winning as a team, and because of my approach, that didn’t happen."
Powless looked incredible. He closed a hundred-metre gap in no time. You must’ve seen how strong he was too. Do you think you could’ve dropped him before the finish?
"I honestly don’t know. But if it hadn’t worked, at least we couldn’t blame ourselves. Now, we were too casual about it, and I took a big gamble. That’s not something I can justify."
Shouldn’t the team car have made the tactical decision? Team leader Grischa Niermann is taking the blame...
"It’s very decent of Grischa, but I think it’s normal that he followed my lead when I said with full confidence over the radio that this is how we’d do it. By saying it so assertively, I didn’t leave the decision with him – and the team followed my choice too."
You seem incredibly disappointed. Have you ever felt this low after a race?
"Right now, I can’t think of another moment. Ask me again Friday afternoon at the press conference."
Are you also able to take some positives from the race – you and the team were dominant after all?
"The signs were better than on Friday. We raced from the front and dictated the race, rather than letting it unfold around us. Maybe I’ll come to appreciate that in the coming days – but not now. I’m still too disappointed at the moment. I’ll need a bit of time to bounce back from this, to see the positives, and look ahead again."
Sunday’s already a big one.
"And with other strong competitors still to face..."
What his entourage feared most after the race in Waregem – and desperately hoped wouldn’t be the case – turned out to be reality. Van Aert feels an overwhelming sense of guilt, towards his team (and teammates), for the missed victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen.
It’s not the first time he’s been haunted by that feeling. It happened before at Visma-Lease a Bike and in the national team – for instance at the 2023 European Championships in Drenthe, where he couldn’t capitalise on the hard work of Arnaud De Lie and co. on the VAM-berg. More than mourning the loss of his own success, Van Aert is often left with a gnawing guilt towards his teammates. Unnecessary? Perhaps. But you can’t change the nature of the beast.
And it wasn’t as though there weren’t already doubts swirling in his head… On Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic, he’d hoped for a better race and result. Before the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen, he described not being strong enough to win on Friday as “no national emergency”, but internally, doubts had begun to creep in by that evening – about his preparation leading up to his two major goals: the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Within the team, Van Aert even raised the question of whether it might be a good idea to ride Gent-Wevelgem after all. That race wasn’t on his schedule this year or last – mainly because five to six days after a high-altitude training camp, there’s often a physical dip. But for his head and his feeling, Van Aert was keen to race. There was also a slot available – Visma-Lease a Bike needed a replacement for a sick rider anyway.
The final decision was left to Mathieu Heijboer, Van Aert’s coach and the team’s Performance Manager. He said no. The numbers took priority over emotion.
Not a talker
“It was indeed an option for Wout to ride Gent-Wevelgem after all,” says Niermann. “But we decided against it. Adding an extra race at the last minute doesn’t always go well. Had our data shown that Wout was still lacking in certain areas after Harelbeke, we might’ve agreed. But the analysis from our coaches showed that what Wout really needed after his altitude camp was extra freshness.”
In Dwars door Vlaanderen, we saw a sharp Van Aert – and until 200 metres from the line, he seemed, within reason, physically and mentally ready to take on Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar on Sunday. That could still be the case – but first, Van Aert needs to shake off the guilt and, yet again in his career, claw his way back mentally.
If he’s done it a hundred times already, why not once more? True – but Van Aert struggles more with setbacks than he sometimes likes to admit. Talking doesn’t help; even Sarah and the kids barely get through to him at moments like that. It may sound strange, especially reading how honest and hard he was on himself after the race in Waregem, but in such moments, Van Aert is anything but a talker.
So what does help?
Letting off steam on the bike – though that too often takes time, and time is something he doesn’t have much of. The Tour of Flanders awaits on Sunday.
Van Aert will remain with the team at the hotel in the coming days, where he’ll have to try and shake off that guilt towards his teammates and refocus on the good feeling he had – right up until cramp struck after 184 kilometres of racing.
Sunday brings an even tougher challenge: 269 kilometres. It certainly won’t be any easier – especially not with doubts lingering in his mind.
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