“I’m satisfied, and I should be,” says a realistic Wout van Aert after 4th place in Tour of Flanders

In spite of the fact that Wout van Aert had a fantastic race on Sunday during the Tour of Flanders, he was forced to settle for a position that was just off the podium after 268 kilometres of competition. The leader of Visma | Lease a Bike, who is from Belgium, finished in fourth place and expressed satisfaction with that result. Although it would have been preferable to place on the podium, it is not something to be ashamed of to finish fourth behind these three competitors. As a conclusion, he stated, “I finished where I belonged.” After the Oude Kwaremont, Van Aert was the best rider, with the exception of Tadej Pogacar, who ended up winning the race. Van Aert maintained his speed throughout the ultimate competition. “I am pleased with the way that I was able to compete in the race. “In the final, you obviously hope to finish on the podium, but it was a fair sprint,” the Belgian said to Sporza in the studio shortly after the race. “It was a fair sprint.”

I am content, as I ought to be, because I have completed my work in the place where I belonged. Although it was enjoyable to compete for the podium, there was one rider who stood out from the rest,” he stated once again in the mixed zone a little while later. “I put in a lot of effort to achieve this. My goal was to finish on the podium or to win, but I was unable to contribute anything more than what was already there. “It is a motivational booster. When I was competing in the Oude Kwaremont, which was a really difficult final, I felt fantastic. We did an excellent job as a team and were consistently in the right place at the right time. The fact that Tiesj (Benoot, ed.) was in a good position in the front made it possible for Matteo (Jorgenson, ed.) and I to concentrate on following those men. In anticipation of his trip to Paris, Van Aert At Roubaix
Van Aert was unsuccessful on the Paterberg, but he demonstrated his worth on the Oude Kwaremont on two separate occasions. Even before that hill, he launched his assault. “No, I did not pass out. After we had returned to the race towards the Kwaremont, I did not want to simply allow myself to be overtaken by the other competitors. Actually, I didn’t feel like it – my legs hurt; I would have loved to take it easy for another 500 meters,” Van Aert laughed. “But when you know how strong Pogacar is, I thought it would be prudent to take a little of a lead. And he did really go a bit faster. When you watch how he rides everyone off their wheel: chapeau!”

“This was a main goal. In addition, I rode the race in the manner that I desired, so I have nothing to complain about. “At this point, I am looking forward to the following week,” he says, referring to the Paris-Roubaix track. “At the moment, it’s gratifying that my hard work is paying off,” says Van Aert, who can now look forward to Paris-Roubaix with confidence. “It’s a great feeling.”

“In the past, I have frequently experienced a positive feeling there. Despite the fact that things did not always go my way, that is typical of Roubaix. I can’t wait until Sunday to get started. The middle of the week will see me finish two more productive training sessions that I have scheduled. The man from Visma | Lease a Bike, who will once again have to compete against Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, and Mads Pedersen in northern France, came to the conclusion that it is time to look forward to the next cobbled Monument before moving on to the next one.