Does Van Aert think he can still win the Tour of Flanders? 'Maybe only three riders in the world can still believe it'

Wout van Aert’s 2025 season may well be the textbook example of a year full of highs and lows. In the spring he failed to achieve the big results he craved and ended the year with just two victories - although those two wins were certainly hard-earned. Still, it wasn’t enough. He remains all-in on winning a Monument, even if dealing with defeat has become a little easier.

“To be clear: I always race to win,” he tells Het Nieuwsblad. “But I’m more balanced now. At the Tour of Flanders I finished fourth, but I felt I made the most of every opportunity. I fought incredibly hard — but I always do. I also dared to race to win. I attacked in the finale, even though Tadej and Mathieu were probably stronger.”

Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar were indeed just a touch stronger that day. “I didn’t struggle with that. In the past I might have been more disappointed, but now I was more at peace with the level I reached and how close I was. I also enjoy every victory much more now. There are fewer wins these days, but I appreciate them more.”

It wasn’t long ago that the Belgian took 12 victories in a single season, including Milan–San Remo. “I hated the races where I wasn’t at my level,” he said back in November. “I realised I was in this sport to be the best version of myself.” For that reason, Van Aert still hopes he can become that relentless winner again.

“If I’m not allowed to believe I can win the Tour of Flanders, then maybe only three riders in the world can still believe it,” he explains. “It will be very hard to win Flanders and the same goes for Roubaix, but it remains a logical career goal for me. I’m still very close. So yes, I want to keep chasing it.”

With two fourth-place finishes in the cobbled Monuments, his results weren’t bad. But to actually win, Van Aert must take another step forward. “I need to believe I can start at a higher level than last year. All the conditions are there to be a little better. The race circumstances could also play out more favourably.”

Still, Van Aert believes he could have won the 2025 Tour of Flanders. “Last year it maybe worked against us that Mathieu had been a bit sick and seemed slightly below Tadej,” he says. “If Mathieu had been closer to Tadej, I think they would have neutralised each other for longer. They often work well together, but in the final ten kilometres that becomes a different story.”

When Pogacar eventually dropped Van der Poel on the Oude Kwaremont, it was disastrous for the chasers. “For me the worst-case scenario was one of them riding clear after the Paterberg with a big gap. I want to try to follow in the first instance, but maybe one day there will be an edition where they actually look at each other. And then we’re the first ones there.”