Half an hour with Van Aert, the best cyclist in the world: "I feel that we are changing cycling"

• World Cup The giants of mud meet in Benidorm: "It has broken all expectations"

• Opinion Van Aert, Van der Poel, Pidcock and the splendor in the mud

Wout Van Aert

is a few hours away from contesting his first professional race in Spain and he walks relaxed through the hall of a hotel conquered by the black and yellow of the Jumbo Visma.

It is the day before a cyclocross World Cup event in which the expectation is maximum and his status as absolute favorite (he has won eight of his 11 races this winter, in the other three he came second), but the Belgian he has spent almost four and a half hours on his bike this morning, covering 145 kilometers on the roads of Alicante.

"I'm not worried about rest.

Actually, nobody rests », he clears it with a half smile before a small group of Spanish journalists.

Here, in a secluded urbanization in Mutxamel, Van Aert established his

on January 9 as the first season of a 2023 that is going to be intense.

He is accompanied by his wife and his little

.

Next to the Mediterranean, he combines explosive training with long runs and, in addition, foot races that strengthen his muscles.

He doesn't just look for the sun.

A few days ago he publicly denounced the harassment suffered by his figure in Herentals, the place where he resides.

“He took himself out of context a bit.

I understand the dimension that cycling has in my country and that the attention on me is growing more and more.

But they tend to be very polite, "he clarifies, surprised, for the better, also by the Spanish fans who will vibrate in Benidorm today with their duel against

and

.

He always says that he moves for "challenges."

Why will she be struggling in his career four or five years from now?Good question.

Of course, I have some idea.

But, for the moment, I want to continue being the cyclist of today, competing in the classics, trying to win stages in the grand tours.

Trying to maintain the same profile and add races that I still don't have to my record.

I still have a lot to win, Roubaix, Flanders, the World Cup... big goals.

For now, that's what's on my mind. But if Jonas Vingegaard failed in the Tour... [Laughs] I still weigh too much to try to win the Tour. What is his limit? I don't like to think about my limits. Roubaix and Flanders Those are your big goals.

Do you feel a thorn in there? Yes, especially in Roubaix I have never had any luck.

It is a race in which you have to run in perfect form,

but something has always happened to me or there was someone stronger.

In those races especially every detail can be decisive.

Hopefully one day luck will be on my side.

Van Aert, on the Zonhoven podium, with Van der Poel and Sweeck.JUMBO VISMA

Is it more special when you beat Van der Poel? I always try to do my best, no matter who is in the race.

Even without Mathieu, it's very difficult to win.

He, because of his abilities, always pushes me to the limit, beating him is never easy.

But what is special is winning after a battle in the last meters, like in cyclocross.

It's more about how the race ends than who you win. Do you feel that you, Van der Poel, Evenepoel and the others, with your attacking style, are changing cycling? Yes, I feel that we are changing cycling.

Really, you can see something different in the last three or four years.

I also love seeing others, like Alaphillipe or Pogacar, in Flanders.

This is fantastic for the fans.

It's a show all season long.

It is something new that was not seen before.

Always with an aggressive style of running. If you don't attack, don't you enjoy? [Laughs] I always have a plan.

I always try to win. Do you feel more pressure on the road than in cyclocross? The fans expect me to win every cyclocross race.

But personally I don't feel any pressure there anymore, because I've basically won everything there is to win.

I love this sport and that's why I come back every year. Do you think you'll be able to combine both throughout your career? I think so, I've been doing it for 10 years.

As a child I did not dream of being a professional cyclist, I liked Tom Boonen like everyone else in my country, but I dreamed of cyclocross.

But personally I don't feel any pressure there anymore, because I've basically won everything there is to win.

I love this sport and that's why I come back every year. Do you think you'll be able to combine both throughout your career? I think so, I've been doing it for 10 years.

As a child I did not dream of being a professional cyclist, I liked Tom Boonen like everyone else in my country, but I dreamed of cyclocross.

But personally I don't feel any pressure there anymore, because I've basically won everything there is to win.

I love this sport and that's why I come back every year. Do you think you'll be able to combine both throughout your career? I think so, I've been doing it for 10 years.

As a child I did not dream of being a professional cyclist, I liked Tom Boonen like everyone else in my country, but I dreamed of cyclocross.

"It will be difficult to do it again"

Van Aert's 2022 was amazing.

Few times was a display in the Tour as wild as his, because this time he not only won again in all terrains, in the sprint, escape and, of course, in the fight against the clock, to already accumulate nine victories of stage in the

-and that in his first contact, back in 2019, he suffered a fall in Pau that almost ended his sports career-.

If

raised his arms in Paris it was thanks to him, despite the fact that he never stopped looking for leaks.

"My attacks are part of the plan," he recounted to clarify the apparent confusion of the Jumbo.

«I think that this year the team is even stronger, which is a good thing.

But, on the other hand, last year was very successful, with the Tour win and everything else.

It will be difficult to do it again », he assures, although the classics do not leave his mind, nor who his rivals and his allies will be there.

«With

(Jumbo's new reinforcement and winner in Roubaix ahead of him) I am very complementary.

We also have

,

... with our best team in the classics we have several options to win, not just me », he admits.

Van Aert and Van der Poel, in Herentals.JUMBO VISMA

Which Spanish cyclist do you currently see best? Valverde [Laughs].

If he comes back... because I see how he trains.

With his record, he has been the top for a long time.

I really like

, which he won this week at the Tour Down Under.

But it's hard to choose one, I don't want to get into trouble. Do you enjoy suffering? Sure, I like to suffer on the bike.

If you don't, you can't be professional. By the way, do you remember your first bike? Yes.

I remember my first race.

I had an old bike that my father adapted for me.

It was made of iron and had the gears under the handlebars, something very old even for the time.

My father wanted to see if I really liked him before buying me a more expensive bike.

I started in cyclocross and that was where my dreams were, because I didn't like school very much.

There were two big stars in my region, Erwin Vervecken and Bart Wellens, who were world champions.

I wanted to be like them.

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