Evenepoel and van Aert protected in Belgium; De Cauwer concludes: "Van der Poel cracked the Pogacar code that day"

Pogacar won in Liège on Sunday, bringing this year's Monuments battle to 2-2. The Slovenian rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG also triumphed in the Tour of Flanders and finished second in Paris-Roubaix and third in Milan-Sanremo. Van der Poel won in Roubaix and Sanremo and finished third in De Ronde. Pogacar also won Strade Bianche, Van der Poel the E3. Pogacar added the UAE Tour to his list of victories, Van der Poel Le Samyn.

The duo stood out, which was, of course, not expected in Belgium. Van Aert did not win a single classic, although Evenepoel did win the Brabantse Pijl. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike bowed out after the Amstel Gold Race, and Evenepoel failed to make an impression in Liège, finishing 59th. "I'm not a robot; everyone had a normal winter, and I didn't," was Evenepoel's straightforward explanation after that off-day in the fourth Monument of this year.

Marc Sergeant, therefore, sees no reason to panic in his analysis. "If I were Evenepoel, I wouldn't worry too much. Just give yourself some more time," the former rider wrote in his column for Het Nieuwsblad on Monday. "The only mistake he has made in the past two weeks is that he got caught up in the high expectations that arose after his victory in the Brabantse Pijl. It's almost logical that a rider sidelined for so long will come up against himself at some point."

The Belgian analyst preferred to focus on the best Belgian of the day. "Chapeau to Thibau Nys. Chapeau to Lidl–Trek. These days, young riders are often thrown to the wolves very quickly, often right away in the biggest races. Sometimes that leads to disappointment. Lidl–Trek has brought Nys along carefully. First winning a stage in Hungary, a race we barely pay attention to in Flanders. Then Romandie, already much more impressive. Then the Tour de Suisse, even more so. They’ve built it up in a way that allowed Nys to immediately deliver three strong results in his first Ardennes triple."

It promises a lot for the future of the top talent. "Soon he'll already be in the Tour de France, where he should absolutely be capable of winning a stage. But also, in the longer term, in a Monument like Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Against this Pogacar, Nys isn’t yet a match, but this scenario won’t repeat itself every year. Let Nys find himself in a small group of four or five top riders in a few years, and with his sprint, he will absolutely be a contender for the win."

In addition to Nys' strong performance, Lidl-Trek won with Mads Pedersen in Gent-Wevelgem and Mattias Skjelmose in the Amstel and was always riding at the front of the pack. "Lidl-Trek is number one," said José De Cauwer in his spring analysis on Sporza. Sergeant counters with UAE: "That team is performing so well, making it look so easy for Pogacar: phenomenal. That is Pogacar's great asset: his excellent qualities and the fact that in every situation, at every moment, he has a teammate he can count on."

De Cauwer enjoyed the spring partly because of UAE's superiority and because Pogacar showed his strength everywhere. He watched Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, and Paris-Roubaix with great pleasure. "The battle in Paris-Roubaix was fantastic. Pogacar showed some humanity in that race. He fell, came back to within 12 seconds, but then couldn't push on. Mathieu van der Poel cracked the Pogacar code that day, so to speak."

According to De Cauwer, the spring also had several significant setbacks. "Visma | Lease a Bike, for example, needs to regroup. Is that Van Aert's fault? No, not at all. It's the circumstances. Laporte drops out, and Dylan van Baarle isn't where he needs to be. And there are other teams like that. At Soudal-QuickStep, they also need to reassess things. But what's coming up next year? Will Remco Evenepoel stay, or will he leave?"

De Cauwer mentions the two Belgians, who, in his opinion, are not to blame. Van Aert returned this spring after a crash in the 2024 Vuelta. Evenepoel made his comeback after a crash in training in December. "And, of course, people often forget that. What does it mean to come back? And how many times can you keep doing that? And where does it end? You always think you can keep growing, but there's a limit at some point. Although you never know when. Those crashes do much more damage than most people think."

"Because that story of coming back and getting stronger isn't true. It takes its toll," said the Belgian analyst. "Because the rest keep working too. They get better every year. Mathieu van der Poel was stronger this season than last year, and he will continue to improve next year, partly because he can keep racing."