Wout van Aert packed his bags and prepared to travel from Canada to Australia for the UCI Road World Championships with the trophy for second place at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in his suitcase and his morale high after performances that delivered confidence he is on form for a shot at the rainbow jersey.
The Belgian was fourth in Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and was beaten by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in Montréal. They were on two different parcours but on circuits very much like Van Aert will face in Wollongong on September 25.
Since returning to racing after the Tour de France at the Bremer Cyclassic, Van Aert has finished second, first at the Bretagne Classic and then fourth and second in Canada.
“I think the legs are turning well,” he said somewhat modestly. “I really like these races and it was super nice to experience the support of the Canadian fans along the road. I think it’s a nice format to have the circuits.
"They were also two different races, in Montréal there are longer climbs, while Québec is more of an explosive race. It was nice to race here.
“Today the race was really hard. The long climb was something to survive. I made it over but I also killed myself there. Then in the sprint Tadej was stronger.”
Van Aert dug deep to join and then survive attacks from better climbers Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) on the final 12.2km lap around the Parc Royal du Mont-Royal.
He managed to ensure the race ended in a five rider sprint, making him the favourite but Pogacar just managed to crack him in the 500 metre climb up to the finish and then the final drag to the line.
“It flattens a little bit towards the line but there’s a really steep 500 metres before that,” Van Aert pointed out.
“I think everybody was hesitating a bit in the sprint. Gaudu launched it early and I was on the wheel of Tadej – that was my goal for the sprint. But in the moment when I was supposed to pass him, I didn’t have anything left. Then I had to use a bike throw to beat Bagioli for second place.
Having won so much during the 2022 season and on so many different terrains, Van Aert is always a favourite and so his Jumbo-Visma team was again expected to control the race. The yellow and black jerseys were on the front in the final to close down the attack and set-up van Aert.
“That’s not different from any other race I did this year. It’s always the way you go into races. There are advantages and disadvantages when you're a favourite,” Van Aert explained.
“I’m actually super proud of how we rode, everyone was very strong. I want to say a special word for Tobias Foss. He worked hard in Québec and has had a difficult year but he showed that he has huge talent and he really controlled into the deep final which was good for me.”
Van Aert will fly business class from Montreal to Sydney via Los Angeles on Monday to have plenty of time to recover and adapt before the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, with the elite men's road race in two weeks time.
Pogačar will clearly be a threat, as will many others. However Van Aert expects the Wollongong course to suit him and the Belgian team to be strong however the race unfolds.
“The climb in Wollongong is a bit shorter, especially on the local final circuit,” he noted.
“If it's a small group like today, then there’s probably only me and Remco able to be there. If it’s a bigger group, we have a strong team and can be there with other guys.”
Van Aert will share leadership of the Belgian team with Vuelta a Espana winner Remco Evenepoel in the hope that one of them can win the rainbow jersey for Belgium. Last year they fell out after Evenepoel failed to respect team orders but Van Aert has opted for a more diplomatic, unified approach this year.
“I’m confident we have a strong team and it’s a big advantage that we have two cards to play,” Van Aert said, offering an olive branch of peace as Evenepoel celebrated his Vuelta victory in Spain as the Jumbo-Visma rider headed to Australia.
