Tom Dumoulin sees winning formula for Wout van Aert in spring classics

Cycling fans’ hearts are beating faster now that Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is just around the corner. Many eyes are on Wout van Aert, who this spring is fully focused again on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The Belgian has long been chasing a win in one of his dream races, but Tom Dumoulin remains hopeful.

In the new weekly cycling podcast from NOS, former pros Dumoulin and Michael Boogerd and cycling commentator Andries Lamain look ahead to the spring classics. They discuss, among other topics, one of Dumoulin’s former teammates, Wout van Aert, who is eager to finally win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in his career.

Now 31 years old, the classics specialist from Visma | Lease a Bike faces stiff competition from Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel in these races. Dumoulin acknowledges this. “Wout is still an incredibly strong rider. He’s also very close to Van der Poel’s level, but just falls a bit short.”

From Reacting to Taking Initiative 
But what exactly differentiates these two eternal rivals? “Looking at it as an analyst, I see that Wout often reacts during a race,” Dumoulin explains. “He responds to what’s happening in the peloton. Van der Poel, on the other hand, shapes the race. He attacks, throws down a bomb at a hundred kilometers from the finish. This increasingly turns out to be a successful strategy. Just look at Pogacar.”

“These are riders who dare to take risks and have guts, and ultimately win those races. Perhaps it’s time for Wout to take the initiative like that. To do so in Paris-Roubaix, the race that suits him best... He still has a very good chance there. If he waits for Mathieu or Tadej to attack, it will probably be another year of just missing out,” predicts the 2017 Giro d’Italia winner.

Guts 
Dumoulin then refers to the final stage of last year’s Tour de France. “There, Wout showed guts. He went all in. In the Belgian media, the pressure is always ramped up, and he has to perform for the entire nation. It seems this is somewhat paralyzing, which likely leads him to adopt a more reactive racing style.”

Dumoulin has a clear message for his former teammate: “When no one expects it on the Montmartre climb, he blasts away from the group. That’s when Wout truly goes all in. If he can do the same in a race like Paris-Roubaix, I still believe he can claim victory.”