Wout van Aert, thanks to his determination and resilience, has become the antihero of the peloton. The Flemish rider approaches every race with the same conviction, giving his sweat and effort to achieve the best possible result. Despite this, Van Aert is also the rider who recognizes his opponent's superiority and yesterday, after crossing the finish line, without much regret admitted that this is the era of Tadej Pogacar and that we must accept it. Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel have once again demonstrated that riders with the best legs simply reach higher at the Tour of Flanders and for Wout van Aert, this means once again staying off the podium.

«Tadej and Mathieu are a step above the rest – admitted the Flemish rider - As I said before: it's the legs that do the talking». The Flemish rider on the Oude Kwaremont and at every symbolic passage of the Ronde, was cheered by the crowd, who encouraged him throughout the course. Of course, the fans would have wanted his victory and truly believed in it, but the defeat is seen as a moment that will bring van Aert with greater conviction to Paris-Roubaix. Grischa Niermann, team manager of Visma-Lease a Bike, also admitted Pogacar's superiority and holds the deepest respect for Van Aert.

«It was a fair race. Everyone crossed the finish line solo, and this shows that fourth place is simply where we deserve to be at this moment. Pogacar was clearly the strongest again. Wout should be particularly proud of the race he rode. As a team, we didn't make a single mistake; the others were simply a bit better».

Before the Ronde, all the media talked about the magnificent four: Van Aert, Pogacar, Van der Poel and Evenepoel. But van Aert himself didn't feel part of this elite that would fight for the top step of the podium.

«I cracked just before the top of the Kwaremont and then on the Molenberg, the race opened up with a strong acceleration from UAE. I wasn't able to keep up the pace long enough. Just before the top, I gave in a bit. But even if I had continued to follow, I probably would have been dropped further ahead».

After the Oude Kwaremont, Van Aert found in Mads Pedersen the ideal companion to keep the fight for a podium place alive. «You never know what can happen at the front of the group. Someone can always crack or the cooperation can break down, so we still raced with the intention of reaching the podium and decided to go away together».

The collaboration between the Dane and the Flemish rider continued for a long stretch. But it wasn't enough to close the gap with Evenepoel closer and with Pogacar and Van der Poel who were now too far away. «Remco was losing a bit of time on the pavé every time, but on the flat Tadej and Mathieu didn't drop back at all. The dynamic was clear». On the final climb of the Kwaremont, however, Wout van Aert managed to drop Mads Pedersen and thus secured fourth place.

The Flemish rider completed the Ronde, his seventh in his career, in fourth place for the third consecutive time, but it's logical to think that he will continue to seek that victory that is missing from his palmares. Wout van Aert reached the podium only in the 2020 edition, marked by coronavirus, when he narrowly lost in a sprint against his eternal rival Van der Poel. Now the rider from Herentals has turned the page and is already thinking about next Sunday's Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North suits Wout van Aert a bit more than the Ronde and the results prove it. In 2022 and 2023 he reached the podium, and so this year a place in the top three could be within his reach.