Wout Van Aert admitted that Remco Ovenepoel was simply stronger and faster in the last hour of Brabante Pijl, and that he did not have the speed and power to correspond to the determination of Oelepoel and a long sprint after the ascent in Overijse.
Van Aert must still win a race in 2025 and had a hard time being competitive in the classic pavers, finishing fourth at the Flandre tour and Paris-Roubaix. He probably “needed” victory more than even the same, but could only tighten his Belgian compatriot beyond the finish line and accept defeat.
“Of course, I had hoped to win and especially in this situation, where we were going to the finish line for a sprint,” said Van Aert during the Dutch interview after the race.
“But I had nothing left.
Van Aert attacks after Visma-lease a Tiesj Benoot bicycle teammate established an infernal pace with 55 km to run, on the Hertsstraat, the first of the three painful climbs on the 19.8 km finishing circuit.
Onepoel joined it and they used Moskesstraat and Holsheide to build their advance at more than 30 seconds. Joe Blackmore (Israel-Prime Tech) of Great Britain managed to join them but was sent by a wave as well on the final climb of the paved climb of Hertsstraat.
“I felt good and I helped open the race. I was shocked that there was such a division so quickly,” said Van Aert.
“For me, it would have been better if there were a few additional riders, because it was not easy to drive in the Rémco wheel.
“I hoped it would slow down after the last ascent so that we have an explosive sprint but Remco continued to ride and it therefore became a fairly long effort.”
Van Aert chose to train at altitude in March, missing a race on stage and Milan-San Remo. It was the second door of Dwars Vlaanderen, a fourth combative of the Flanders tour, fourth in Paris-Roubaix after an early accident and now again at Brabante Pijl.
These are good results but not according to the usual high standards of Van Aert. He only has Amstel Gold Race on Sunday to win a classic of spring before going to the Giro d’Italia, then the Tour de France in search of victories on stage.
However, Van Aert now has doubts about his sprint, who has won him so much in the past.
“I am not too disappointed, even if we were visiting more,” he said. “In this situation, I had hoped to beat him in the sprint, but apparently I no longer have a sprint.
“I would like to know the answer to the question of why my sprint did not come out this spring. It is not that we worked differently.
“This is something that we have to look at, I have no idea. The only explanation that I see today is that I have suffered in the last kilometers and that I was already above the limit when I entered the sprint.”
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