A familiar duel with Vingegaard
Visma-Lease a Bike teammates Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard occupied the top two spots in the final time trial of the Algarve, echoing their performances in past races. Back in the 2022 Tour de France, Vingegaard allowed Van Aert to take a stage win in Rocamadour. This time, however, there were no such concessions, as Vingegaard needed every second to secure overall victory.
Van Aert, who had led the standings for over an hour, was ultimately bested by his teammate, finishing 11 seconds behind. While this meant missing out on his first victory of the year, Van Aert took the performance as a positive sign for his upcoming Classics campaign.
“All in all, it was a good week,” Van Aert told VTM. “There were several WorldTour teams at the start, so every day was a real fight. I felt like I was improving as the race went on.”
Building confidence for the classics
The road back to top form has not been easy for Van Aert following his crash in the 2023 Vuelta a España, which forced him out of the race when he was leading both the points and mountains classifications. However, his performances in Spain and Portugal have reassured him.
“This week has been ideal, and I hardly feel any discomfort from my knee,” he said. “My right knee remains my weakest point, but we’re all working on that in the team. It was also good to regain confidence in the peloton.”
His time trial performance was particularly impressive considering he had spent most of his recent training focusing on long endurance rides rather than time trial-specific preparation. “Time trials aren’t being neglected,” said Visma’s Arthur van Dongen, “but the main focus right now is on something else.”
Omloop and beyond: Aiming high
With his confidence growing, Van Aert is now focused on the Opening Weekend, where he will take on Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as his first major test of the year.
“Am I where I want to be? It’s hard to say, because every year is different,” he said. “After the Opening Weekend, I will have a much clearer picture.”
Beyond Omloop, Van Aert is targeting the Tour of Flanders where he has come agonizingly close but is yet to win.
“With the track record that I have and the opportunities that I have, I have to dare to aim high. And that means going for the two Monuments.”
One of his key rivals will be Tadej Pogačar, fresh off his UAE Tour victory. Van Aert acknowledged the Slovenian’s strength but remains undeterred. “He seems to be continuing where he left off in 2024, which was expected. But I think the guys who can make it difficult for him were not there in the UAE Tour,” he told Sporza.
With his early-season races behind him and his form steadily improving, Van Aert is now ready to take on the Classics with renewed determination. The Belgian knows that the road to victory will be tough, but if his performances in Algarve are anything to go by, he is certainly on the right path.
