{"id":540306,"date":"2026-03-16T14:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540306\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:54:17","slug":"pogacar-and-van-der-poel-are-the-favourites-but-im-going-there-to-win-wout-van-aert-rejects-claims-hes-lost-his-killer-instinct-ahead-of-milano-sanremo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540306\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPogacar and Van der Poel are the favourites, but I\u2019m going there to win\u201d \u2013 Wout van Aert rejects claims he\u2019s lost his killer instinct ahead of Milano-Sanremo"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe Belgian arrives at the race after another week of racing at Tirreno-Adriatico<\/a> that has offered signs of encouraging form, even if it did not deliver the victory that has so far eluded him in 2026.Tirreno-Adriatico offers final preparation for the Classics<\/p>\n

Van Aert\u2019s campaign in Italy has largely been about sharpening condition rather than chasing immediate results. From the opening time trial to the punchier middle stages, the focus has been on building rhythm ahead of the spring Classics rather than forcing the race.<\/p>\n

That approach has still produced flashes of the strength that has made him one of the most versatile riders in the peloton. He was involved in several key moments across the week and came closest to a result on stage four, where he finished among the leading riders after an aggressive finale.<\/p>\n

It is the type of performance that reinforces the sense that his condition is building at the right moment. Tirreno-Adriatico traditionally serves as a final rehearsal for Milano-Sanremo and the races that follow, and Van Aert has used the Italian stage race in precisely that way.<\/p>\n

When asked how much progress he feels he has made during the week, however, the Belgian offered a typically straightforward answer. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Van Aert said. \u201cI think my legs have been good this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

His confidence extends beyond his own form. When asked whether the eventual Milano-Sanremo winner has already been racing at Tirreno-Adriatico this week, Van Aert answered with a mixture of humour and belief. \u201cDo I think the winner of Sanremo has ridden here? Yes. If I said no, I would have very little confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wout<\/p>\n

Wout van Aert during stage 2 of the 2026 Tirreno-Adriatico<\/p>\n

Sanremo consistency gives Van Aert confidence<\/p>\n

If there is one Monument where Van Aert has consistently shown his ability to fight for victory, it is Milano-Sanremo.<\/p>\n

The Belgian famously won the race in 2020 after surviving the Poggio and outsprinting the select group that reached the Via Roma. It remains one of the defining victories of his career and confirmed that his combination of endurance, climbing ability and sprint speed is ideally suited to La Primavera.<\/p>\n

Across his appearances, he has repeatedly been present in the decisive moments of the race, whether the action unfolds on the Poggio or in the sprint that often follows. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a bad Sanremo, so I\u2019m happy to be back there,\u201d Van Aert said.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s edition was a very different experience for Van Aert, who watched the finale from afar while training in Tenerife. \u201cLast year I watched the finale unfold from altitude training in Tenerife with a bit of pain in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those memories only reinforce his motivation to return to the start line ready to compete again. \u201cI can win, because Milano-Sanremo is a race where a lot can happen,\u201d Van Aert explained. \u201cI\u2019m going there to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe winner in me hasn\u2019t disappeared\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the conversation surrounding Van Aert in recent seasons has centred on whether the ruthless finishing instinct that characterised the early phase of his career has faded.<\/p>\n

Analysts have occasionally suggested that the Belgian wins less frequently than he once did. Van Aert himself recognises that the numbers have changed, but he rejects the idea that the competitive drive behind those victories has disappeared. \u201cI don\u2019t know who started that claim,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand that I win considerably less than I used to, but that doesn\u2019t mean the winner in me has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Van Aert, the objective for the coming weeks is straightforward. If he can consistently deliver his best performances throughout the Classics, he believes the results will follow. \u201cIf I can simply have a good Classics period from now on where I\u2019m able to give my best each time, I\u2019ll be satisfied,\u201d Van Aert said. \u201cI hope the results will follow. The work is more or less done, and I\u2019ve done everything possible to be in the best condition. Now the big one-day races can come.\u201d<\/p>\n

And with Milano-Sanremo now just days away, the first opportunity to test that belief is approaching quickly.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Belgian arrives at the race after another week of racing at Tirreno-Adriatico that has offered signs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,13633,128988,82,1422,130976,140532,12290],"class_list":["post-540306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-milano-sanremo","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-tirreno-adriatico","tag-wout-van-aert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}