After just missing the podium at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) rode to his third fourth place at a Classic this season at Amstel Gold Race, but appeared satisfied with his performance in the Limburg hills.
The Belgian won the small bunch kick 34 seconds behind the leading trio at the opening race of the Ardennes Classics, as Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose took a shock victory ahead of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).
The result meant that for the first time since 2019, his debut World Tour season, Van Aert finishes his spring campaign without a win. His highest placings were two runner-up performances at semi Classics Dwars door Vlaanderen and De Brabantse Pijl.
Despite this, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider is satisfied with where he is, having recovered from serious injury following a crash at the Vuelta a España last year. He will now take a short period of rest before building up to race both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France this season, where he will search for stage wins and support the team’s general classification riders.
“I am very happy with how I have ridden the last few weeks,” Van Aert told reporters after the conclusion of Amstel Gold according to WielerFlits.
“A victory is missing, but I am happy with my level. I may put my bike aside for three days, but then I will already be looking ahead to the Giro.”
Pogačar made a characteristic early attack in the Limburg hills on Sunday with more than 50 kilometres remaining of the race. He went solo, and looked as though he was following a script read many times before to win the race with ease. However, Skjelmose and Evenepoel later attacked out of the group that Van Aert and teammate Tiesj Benoot were part of. The pair caught the world champion, and the Dane took the biggest win of his career by winning the sprint.
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