De Cauwer impressed by Van Aert: ‘This Wout is completely ready for Flanders’

Van Aert accelerated impressively on the Eikenberg, where he rode all of his rivals straight off his wheel. In the end, it still was not enough. “We saw a great solo by Wout van Aert, but in the end he fell on the field of honour,” Vannieuwkerke said in his analysis for Sporza, adding that it hurt, but “not as much as that sprint against Neilson Powless last year.” Those remarks followed another agonising finish for Van Aert after he had looked like the strongest rider for much of the race.

Last year, Van Aert arrived at the line alongside teammates Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot, only to be surprisingly beaten by Powless. De Cauwer therefore believes the Visma rider made far fewer mistakes this time around, especially compared with that defeat in 2025. In his view, Van Aert can take real confidence from the performance. He knows he rode a great race and made a serious impression. This version of Van Aert, De Cauwer argued, looks fully ready for the Tour of Flanders.

At the same time, De Cauwer felt Visma | Lease a Bike could perhaps have done a little more tactically. He suggested the team might have started disrupting the chase earlier and with more aggression, even if that approach can sometimes backfire. He also pointed out that Ganna should not be underestimated. After all, the Italian was with Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar in Milan-San Remo last year, and when he is in top shape he still has a powerful finishing effort in his legs. Against that version of Ganna, De Cauwer felt it would have been difficult for Van Aert regardless.

Florian Vermeersch was once again right where the action was, although he could not close the gap himself. Indirectly, though, his move helped Ganna make the junction. De Cauwer noted that Vermeersch wanted to come back, but simply did not have the same acceleration as Ganna, who still had something left in reserve. Had Vermeersch approached it differently, the gap might not have come down so much, but De Cauwer also stressed that Vermeersch was racing to win.

For De Cauwer, the conclusion remained unchanged: Van Aert is ready for the Tour of Flanders. But according to Vannieuwkerke, Remco Evenepoel may have looked at Dwars door Vlaanderen and seen another warning sign ahead of Sunday. He wondered out loud whether Evenepoel might have concluded that it will be hard to ride the Tour of Flanders with a stronger team around him than some of his rivals have.

That is because Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe again looked extremely strong throughout the race. The result may not have followed, but the German team was highly visible. Gianni Vermeersch was the only rider able to follow Van Aert briefly on the Eikenberg, and Vannieuwkerke said he saw Vermeersch do things he had never seen him do before. He praised the Belgian’s race reading, his alertness and the overall strength of the squad, which also includes the Van Dijke brothers. Ahead of the Tour of Flanders, then, Van Aert may have lost the race, but the verdict from the Belgian analysts was clear: his form looks exactly where it needs to be.