<\/p>\n
This year the Dutch team has set itself a goal of winning a monument, not specifically the cobbled ones – and this seems to have put some pressure away from these two specific days. The German sports director is very keen on making sure the team suffer as least as possible from the pressure that falls on their shoulders, and that Van Aert’s career does not depend on winning one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the races we want to win, but we are not chasing them blindly. It\u2019s not all over if he doesn\u2019t win Flanders or Roubaix. I think he will be remembered regardless. But his career is far from over, so there are a lot of chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Challenging Pogacar and van der Poel – Is it possible?\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is, but very hard. Some choices have to be made as well in order to try and reach this goal, partly from Niermann himself. \u201cIn the end, I\u2019m in the team car, I\u2019m making the calls, and it\u2019s my responsibility, finally. I also did the wrong calls, and it\u2019s good that we take a shared responsibility there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about Van Aert specifically, he has described the team leader: \u201cIt\u2019s not only within the team, I think he\u2019s also loved all over the world, and especially in Belgium, of course. Because he\u2019s a great guy and he\u2019s a great leader of our team. And I think people love him for all the victories that he has, but also for the defeats and the bad moments he had. And yeah, he\u2019s just a normal human being…\u201d<\/p>\n
The past few years have seen him get injured or ill several times at bad moments and the gap has grown, however the ambition remains the same due to his level on the bike. \u201cWe know it\u2019s not easy competing against Pogacar and Van der Poel, but absolutely the desire is there to win”.<\/p>\n