Van Aert has an explanation for his ups and downs in 2025: 'Noticed I was cooked after three hours of training'

Wout van Aert once again experienced a turbulent season - but overall, a good one. The Belgian rider of Visma | Lease a Bike faced several setbacks but delivered when it mattered most. In the team podcast Inside the Beehive, Van Aert looks back on his year and shares his thoughts on the many ups and downs.

The low point was, of course, Dwars door Vlaanderen. “It felt like I wasn’t myself in that moment, because I’ve always preferred the team to win rather than just me,” Van Aert said. "But we were able to turn the page the very next day. I felt it was my best race in a long time, since that injury in the Vuelta. It gave me a confidence boost heading into the Tour of Flanders,” he explained.

At the Tour of Flanders, the Belgian finished fourth - the same result he achieved at Paris–Roubaix. The focus then shifted to the hilly classics. There, too, victory narrowly escaped him, as he was beaten by Remco Evenepoel at Brabantse Pijl. "Both Brabantse Pijl and Dwars door Vlaanderen should have been wins - especially the latter. But I was always there, including in the Amstel Gold Race. I was just missing that final one percent."

The Giro d’Italia also did not get off to the best start. As the top favourite for stage one, Van Aert arrived with less-than-ideal preparation. “I got sick and could barely train in those few weeks. At the start, I felt I had lost some form. The first weekend should have suited me, but I couldn’t match the very best riders. The first day was still decent, but in the time trial I couldn’t hide the fact that my legs just weren’t there."

Everything changed with his victory in Siena. “I couldn’t believe it. If you had told me a few weeks earlier, when I was in good shape, I would have believed it easily. But then, I didn’t think I had a chance - especially not from the group of GC riders. I thought I needed to be in the breakaway, but when I missed that, I thought: that was my chance, it’s over."

As the winner of Strade Bianche in 2020, the Visma rider knew what to do. “I could follow the attacks and stayed on the wheels of Bernal and Del Toro. I also had the luxury of Simon behind me, so I didn’t have to work. Sitting in was hard enough, especially behind Del Toro. But my experience and winning mentality came out in those final few hundred metres."

Then came the Tour de France. “Believe it or not, the month in between was tricky again,” Van Aert laughed. “I've never mentioned it, but I had a small knee injury between the Giro and the Tour. I was able to train hard in the final week before the Belgian Championships, but then I got sick the night before. I recovered in the week before the Tour, but in my final training ride I noticed I was completely cooked after three hours,” he explained.

As a result, the first week was extremely tough, and even in week two Van Aert had not yet reached the level he had hoped for. Did he already think about winning in Paris? “It would make a nice story if I said yes now, but it really only changed in Toulouse. Something in my head said: not everyone is going to have a perfect day. But the belief that I could really win only came the day before."

Beating Tadej Pogacar and winning on the Champs-Élysées was special, but for Van Aert, his Giro victory meant even more. “It was special because it’s a special place where you don’t often finish solo,” he explained. "But that arena feeling of Siena, with all the noise around you - you don’t get that in Paris. The road is so wide that the people are miles away,” Van Aert concluded.