Two weeks after racing at the cyclocross World Championships, Wout van Aert took a short break before returning to action on Monday afternoon at the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior. However, lacking his usual form, he ended up working for Briton Ben Tulett rather than pushing for a personal result.
“I wasn’t feeling my legs and hit my limits several times during the final,” van Aert explained to Het Laatste Nieuws. “Unfortunately, as a team, we were trying to catch up too quickly. There should have always been someone supporting Michal Kwiatkowski—whether that’s Sepp Kuss, Ben Tulett, or me—but I just had a difficult moment.”
Once the competitors entered the numerous gravel sections, the race quickly got out of hand for the Dutch squad. INEOS Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates – XRG both boasted a strong roster in the main group, with riders such as Michal Kwiatkowski and Brandon McNulty making early moves at the front.
Van Aert and Visma had to shoulder most of the workload, and an incident just before the gravel sections only added to the Belgian’s difficulties. “It left me in a poor position, and I had to expend extra energy just to stay with the first selection. With stronger legs, that wouldn’t have been an issue,” he admitted.
As the group pursued the race leaders, Van Aert recognized that Ben Tulett was the team’s best option, especially since he wouldn’t draw as much attention from rivals.
Accepting this, he took to the front for several kilometers, sacrificing his own chances. “I wasn’t in bad shape, but I knew I wasn’t going to win. So I preferred to help close the gap and give Ben a shot at a strong result.” Tulett ultimately finished ninth, while Van Aert crossed the line in 39th place.
“I felt that Ben was our strongest rider, but he lacked a bit of confidence. That’s why I urged him to conserve his energy for the final while I tried to support him,” he explained. “It’s not a bad start to the season, but it was definitely a challenging race,” he concluded.