Van Aert's Agonising Spring: The Best Rider in the World Without a Monument Win
Wout van Aert heads into Easter Sunday's Tour of Flanders as arguably the strongest rider in the peloton without a major victory to his name this spring. The Visma-Lease a Bike leader has been the most consistently strong performer across the cobbled Classics — animating races, launching audacious attacks, finishing in the top five with metronomic reliability — and yet the Belgian's palmares column for 2026 remains stubbornly empty.
The numbers tell the story of a rider operating at an extraordinary level. Van Aert has not finished outside the top five in any major one-day race since Strade Bianche in early March. He was the driving force behind Gent-Wevelgem, aggressive throughout the finale. At Dwars door Vlaanderen on Tuesday, he launched a solo attack with 30 kilometres remaining that looked destined for glory — only for Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) to catch him on the line in one of the cruellest finishes the race has ever seen.
That heartbreaking near-miss at Dwars encapsulates Van Aert's spring perfectly. The raw power was undeniable — nobody else in the field would have dared to go solo from 30 kilometres out — but the result did not match the performance. It is the kind of defeat that can either break a rider's confidence or sharpen his hunger. Those who know Van Aert suspect the latter.
Van Aert's versatility — the ability to win from a breakaway, a small group sprint, or a solo attack — makes him the hardest rider in the peloton to predict and to control. He can climb with the best on the short, steep bergs, time-trial with world-class power, and sprint faster than most pure sprinters when the legs are fresh. On paper, he should be winning Monuments. In practice, he has been running into the singular phenomenon that is Tadej Pogacar, who has already claimed Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo this spring.
Compounding the frustration is the toll injuries have taken on his team. Visma-Lease a Bike have suffered a torrid run through the Classics, with key domestique Olav Kooij fracturing his collarbone at Gent-Wevelgem, leaving the team's spring squad depleted at the worst possible moment. Without the full complement of teammates to control races and set up the finale, Van Aert has been forced to do more work himself — burning matches that might otherwise be saved for the decisive moment.
Tomorrow's Tour of Flanders represents his best chance yet. The race has been billed as a once-in-a-generation showdown, with Van Aert, Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and debutant Remco Evenepoel all lining up together at the same Monument for the first time since the 2023 World Championships. The 278 kilometres from Antwerp to Oudenaarde, through the bergs and cobbles of Flanders, reward exactly the combination of endurance, explosiveness and tactical intelligence that Van Aert possesses in abundance.
After Flanders come Paris-Roubaix and the Ardennes Classics — more chances, more opportunities. But Sunday feels pivotal. Whether Van Aert can convert his extraordinary consistency into a headline victory remains the defining question of his spring. The talent is undeniable, the form is there, and the desire burns brighter with every near-miss. Sometimes in cycling, the breakthrough comes when you least expect it — and few riders have earned one more than Wout van Aert.