Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) wasn’t in a position to comply with winner Remco Evenepoel on the Côte de la Redoute and he was surprisingly overwhelmed to second place by Quinten Hermans, however he got here away from his Liège-Bastogne-Liège debut reassured that he might in the future win the race.
The Belgian champion’s third place meant that he turned the primary rider since Adrie van der Poel in 1986 to complete on the rostrum of each La Doyenne and Paris-Roubaix in the identical 12 months. That achievement was the extra exceptional provided that Van Aert’s Classics marketing campaign was interrupted by the COVID-19 prognosis that pressured him to overlook the Tour of Flanders.
“I feel it’s a contented feeling,” Van Aert stated when requested to evaluate his race afterwards. “After all, I all the time attempt to win the race however I feel it’s a bit the identical as final week [at Paris-Roubaix]: I did the very best outcome potential. Remco was actually sturdy, by far the strongest. The best way he stayed in entrance was actually spectacular.”
Van Aert received Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Financial institution Traditional earlier this Spring, when his type meant that his Jumbo-Visma group normally dictated the phrases of engagement on the cobbles. At Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in contrast, Van Aert’s goal was to hold robust on the ultimate climbs within the hope of a lowered group dash on the end.
Though Van Aert was distanced by the chasing group on the ultimate ascent of Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, he managed to claw his means again on over the opposite facet. His status as a sprinter, nonetheless, appeared to have a dampening impact on the spirit of collaboration among the many chasers, even when Evenepoel by no means really seemed like being reeled again in.
“For me, I wanted all the pieces I had simply to hold on at Roche-aux-Faucons, and I needed to shut the hole once more excessive once more. I put in loads of power to make it a dash for second place and it was a tough struggle to complete on the rostrum,” stated Van Aerrt, who confirmed his intention to return to the Ardennes within the years forward.
“I feel undoubtedly I’ll come again sooner or later. It’s good to expertise this race. Beforehand, I assumed I had a superb choice to win it. And I feel now afterwards, I can say that if all the pieces goes in a superb state of affairs for me, then I’m able to win this race.”
Van Aert was the overwhelming favorite for the Tour of Flanders earlier than COVID-19 disrupted his Spring. He defied expectations to return to competitors and place second at Paris-Roubaix every week in the past and he accomplished a exceptional Classics marketing campaign with one other podium end in Liège.
The 27-year-old has now completed on the rostrum at 4 of the 5 Monuments, a sequence that started with victory on the pandemic-delayed Milan-San Remo of 2020 and continued with second place at that 12 months’s Tour of Flanders. He has but to take part at Il Lombardia.
“It’s exhausting to say that I nonetheless had the tremendous high form I had just a few weeks in the past, however ending second and third within the final two Monuments continues to be a giant achievement,” Van Aert stated. “Once I acquired COVID, I by no means thought it will be potential, so I’m proud of that.”
