Wout van Aert is heading to the Giro d’Italia with high ambitions: winning the Giro and donning the pink jersey in the early stages. This prospect seems quite feasible, especially with a challenging and hilly start that may favor him. However, he will face a formidable opponent in Tadej Pogacar, and the Belgian acknowledges that beating him could be a challenging task.
Not everything revolves around a single cyclist
“You have two things in this team: you never participate in a race where you can think everything revolves around you. I don’t want that either.”
“And two: you never participate in a Grand Tour in this team with a mediocre team. There are always strong cyclists who can take you to the final and control the race,” van Aert told the Dutch website In de Leiderstrui.
“And then it’s an honor for me and for Olav [Kooij] to be leaders of such a team. We tried it at the Tour of Britain, and it went very well. The Giro will be a completely different level, but in some days, we’ll ride for Olav, and the whole team will help him. This also applies to the stages that are more favorable to me.”
First stage of the Giro d’Italia was tailored for Tadej Pogacar, according to Wout Van Aert.
The 1st stage, covering 136km from Venaria Reale to Torino, features the Colle della Madallena with a length of 6.1 km and an average gradient of 7.4%, not far from the finish.
Although not very challenging, there might be attacks in the peloton as, in some sections, the gradient will reach 12%. If a group of strong climbers can make a difference, life could be very difficult for everyone else, including Wout van Aert.
“I saw that they already adjusted the first stage. They put a tough climb in the last five kilometers, and two days later, it was announced that Tadej Pogacar would race,” said Wout van Aert.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Performance Director agrees
Even in a sprint, the Slovenian is a threat, that cannot be denied. “Wout is very fast at the finish line, but Pogacar is too,” says Mathieu Heijboer, the performance director of the Dutch team. “Van Aert has an ambitious goal, which is to wear the pink jersey in his debut at the Corsa Rosa.”
“We will have a very strong opponent in our goal to win stages. We don’t care about his classification ambitions, but he is a great competitor for stage victories. However, if we manage to win, it will be even better.”