For the second consecutive season, Wout van Aert's spring has closed without victories. Despite maintaining an enviable high-level consistency (from Dwars door Vlandereen to Amstel Gold Race, the Belgian never finished worse than fourth), like in 2024, the Visma Lease a Bike team rider has closed the first four months of the year without any wins, once again postponing success in the classics he most desires, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

To try to win them this year, van Aert had opted for a different approach, choosing to race less and forgo some suitable events (Milan-Sanremo and Strade Bianche above all) to focus his head and energy precisely on the two pavé Monuments, races in which, however, the condition and brilliance shown in the end proved insufficient to compete for success.

Among those who tried to explain why van Aert continues to lack something in races during this time of year, one who provided a decidedly interesting explanation was former Belgian pro Jan Bakelants, who, on the Sporza podcast "Wielerclub Wattage", emphasized an aspect that had not been particularly considered before: the season.

"I think spring is not the period when he can get the most out of himself. Wout can train as much as he wants, but in spring he will always be a bit less effective compared to summer. Proof of this is that he won his only Monument race during that period (the Milan-Sanremo moved to August due to Covid-19, ed.). For Van der Poel, it's the opposite: he doesn't perform in summer, but he's never as impressive as van Aert."

Bakelants' opinion is interesting for several reasons. First, he is a former professional who, after hanging up his bike in 2022, is still continuing to pedal and therefore knows his stuff about today's high-level cycling. The second reason for interest is that Bakelants and van Aert are friends, and when they can, they ride together, so the former Intermarché-Wanty rider's perspective on the 30-year-old from Herentals is certainly privileged. Finally, drawing inspiration from his words and looking at the periodization of van Aert's victories, one can notice that the numbers support Bakelants' theory.

Since becoming one of the greats of cycling, van Aert has only won 10 of his 49 total victories in the first four months of the year (a figure equal to 20.4%) and just 7 in March and April, precisely the months when the races most suited to him and most pursued by him are usually held. So, is the Belgian truly not a spring rider, or at least struggles more at the beginning of the year? Possible, although in cycling, it is known that every season is a story in itself and can be influenced by the most diverse factors.

There could be a lesser predisposition of van Aert to perform in the first months of the year, but if this were the case (and perhaps his team and the athlete himself will reflect on this), there would also be corrections to be adopted in preparation and approach to these events, adjustments that may be considered and we'll see next year. What is certain today is that in the races van Aert had set as his main objectives in the first part of the year, something was missing once again, and this has been noticed by those close to him and attentive to his results, to the point of advancing a new possible explanation for his performance, good but not winning, at the dawn of the season.