Cycling
Watch out Tour de France, Wout van Aert is coming for you
It's been quite a month for Wout van Aert with the Belgian scooping up some major road cycling wins. Hear his thoughts on those successes and his imminent participation at the 2020 Tour de France.
August 2020 will forever be etched in the memory of Belgium's Wout van Aert. Van Aert, who up to now has been associated more famously for his cyclo-cross exploits on muddy terrain in the winter, has put in some stunning performances and wins on the roads since the men's elite road cycling UCI World Tour restarted at the beginning of this month.
There were one-day race victories in Italy at Stade Bianche and most importantly at Milan-San Remo, one of pro-cycling's monument races. On top of that, the Belgian then travelled to France and won a mountain stage at the prestigious Criterium du Dauphiné stage race. He's also recently defended his National Time Trial title by winning the Belgian Championships.
Quite simply van Aart is crushing it right now. But now, participation in the most iconic road cycling stage race on the planet, the Tour de France, awaits him for the second time in his career. Ahead of the Grand Départ in Nice on August 29, we caught up with van Aert to get his thoughts on his form in the last month, getting over a horror injury that put him out of racing action for five months last year and his aims for the Tour de France.
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Winning Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, a stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné and the Belgian Time Trial Championship! That's quite an array of victories. How do you feel about it all?
Obviously it's been fantastic! A bit like a roller coaster that can't stop. I haven't really had time to take a step back yet from it all. I've had to focus on the next racing goal every time. That has allowed me to keep my feet on the ground and stay focused more easily. People close to me had seen these performances coming, or had certainly hoped for it. They see it as a reward for all my hard work. While others see it more as a surprise, I think.
An incredible season so far on the road for van Aert
© Rhode Van Elsen/Red Bull Content Pool
Is everything going as you planned?
I felt stronger physically and mentally very hungry when coming out of lockdown. Due to being out injured for the most of last year and the current circumstances it had been almost a year since I really raced at the top level [van Aert suffered a season-ending injury to his right leg at the 2019 Tour de France on Stage 13, an individual time trial. A fence dug into his hip, tearing into the skin and muscle of his upper thigh and hip]. It gave me a lot of motivation and focus. For two months, since June, I really did everything right. I did a six-week altitude training camp and in terms of preparation, I took it more seriously than before.
People close to me had seen these performances coming, or had certainly hoped for it.
That crash at the 2019 Tour de France put you out of action for the rest of that season. How did you deal with the mental and physical fall-out of the injury?
I raced the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one-day race in Belgium back in late February so for me I was able to move on then. At that time I was racing at the top level with elite riders and was ready to ride a very strong spring season. But then racing was curtailed and everything postponed. From August of last year until February of this year, I've obviously come a long way. It certainly hasn't always gone smoothly.
The rehabilitation took place in three phases. The first, learning to function normally as a human: learning to walk, use my muscles etc. The second was to become a cyclist again and gain strength. The third was to move slowly from being a rehab athlete to the high performance athlete, with an emphasis on reducing physiotherapy hours and increasing cycling hours.
I won my last cyclo-cross race of the season in Lille at the Krawatencross event and that was the last step I had to take mentally to convince myself that everything would be fine.
I only found peace of mind when I was able to start racing again in January at the latter end of the cyclo-cross season. It was then that I gradually felt like I could come back as strong as before. Before, I tried everything to relax, but I couldn't. I won my last cyclo-cross race of the season in Lille at the Krawatencross event and that was the last step I had to take mentally to convince myself that everything would be fine.
Getting over a major injury has been a mental challenge
© Sarah De Bie
Finishing first finally at Strade Bianche must have been a special feeling after two consecutive third places?
This year's Strade Bianche was a battle of attrition because of the heat. These were extreme conditions that I had never experienced before. Of course, I will never forget the last 10 kilometres from the finish. When you're at the front of the race and you're all alone, that gives you wings of course. This is what I needed to survive the final ascent to Siena. In fact, I knew I had won at the top of this pass. Before that, I didn't dare look back. My joy was immense.
And then victory at Milan-San Remo. How was it?
Milan-San Remo is always very close as it usually comes down to a sprint and you only know if you've won at the line or just before. In this case, I knew maybe five metres from the finish. All the emotions that go through your body at such times is incredible. I really had to give everything during the ascent of the Poggio and the descent to catch and ride to the finish with the Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe. I had to forget about all the pain that was going through my body.
The Tour de France is always the the main objective of my team Jumbo-Visma. We have been working towards peaking for this iconic race since the winter.
What are your goals for the Tour de France?
The Tour de France is always the the main objective of my team Jumbo-Visma. We have been working towards peaking for this iconic race since the winter. The new timing for the race doesn't change anything for us. In Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin we have two winning candidates. My primary role will be that of a domestique. If I am good enough, hopefully I will be able to follow them into the mountains and help them out in the final climbs on a stage.
In the sprint stages, I will have to keep the leaders out of harm's way during the hectic finales. The Tour de France is so long and difficult that you have to spare your efforts. So keep the focus, but we have enough experience in the team to make it happen. I can't wait to take on this challenge. It's a completely different feeling from me winning an iconic one-day race but no less prestigious. I believe in our leaders and I will give 100 percent to the cause.
Van Aert is fully focussed on helping Jumbo-Visma achieving its TDF aims
© Sarah De Bie
Will you be targeting racing the Belgian one-day classics after the Tour de France?
Absolutely. Although it is a little strange that they are coming at the end of the season. Due to the uncertainties this year, we consciously tried to race hard when the season restarted and not to look too far ahead at what comes after the Tour de France. So I haven't thought about it too much yet. After the three weeks in France I aim to recover and recharge my batteries fully before the start of those one-day classics in October.