Five months of planning, three weeks of isolation, one tune-up race down, one to go, and then, with a touch of wheels, perhaps a harsh breath of the Belgian wind, it all unravelled for Wout van Aert.
For a Flemish rider like Van Aert, victory at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) on Sunday would have been one to cherish above all others, Paris-Roubaix the following week probably a close second. Of cycling’s five Monuments — including Milan San-Remo, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Il Lombardia — these are the two races that he should win, that he deserves to win, that his great rival Mathieu van der Poel has already won.
They are also the scenes of his greatest misfortunes: in 2022 he caught Covid before
