Van Aert sees the benefits of sharing World Championships leadership with Evenepoel

It started with a tweet, then some kind words, and finally shared leadership for the UCI Road World Championships in Australia. Now Belgium is hoping either Wout van Aert or Remco Evenepoel can win in Wollongong and bring home the rainbow jersey.

Last year the pair endured a public spat after Van Aert was named as team leader for the World Championships in Belgium but struggled on the day. Evenepoel jumped in an early attack and then criticised the Belgian team tactics and refused to attend a debrief meeting to clear the air.

Van Aert has again had an incredible season and is rightly a team leader for Belgium in Wollongong as well as a favourite to win the world title. Yet Evenepoel has just won the Vuelta a España, the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour for 44 years. The balance of power in Belgian cycling has undergone a seismic change and a new era of Evenepoel-mania is underway.

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Van Aert made it clear he was cheering for Evenepoel to win the Vuelta but he remains ambitious at the World Championships.

He has opted to miss the time trial despite the chance of success, putting all his chips on victory in the road race. In contrast, Evenepoel will ride the time trial and the road race.

Van Aert travels directly from Canada to Australia and will arrive on Wednesday, giving a few extra days to acclimatise and do a final block of road training before race day on Sunday September 25. Evenepoel flies from Madrid to Dubai and then on to Sydney. The two should finally cross paths when they arrive in Australia on Wednesday.

They have yet to fully clear the air and agree on a common tactic for the World Championships road race but Van Aert appears open to reconciliation and unity in Wollongong. He has learnt from his failings at last year’s World Championships.

“I think I got stressed in the race instead of keeping calm and it cost me a lot of energy which I needed a in the final. I think it was just not meant to be,” he admitted in Canada, speaking to the media, including Cyclingnews.

“For sure I learned from it and I also think we learnt from it as a team. It's obvious that we go with two leaders to the Championship in Wollongong.

“Remco and I have always had respect for each other. The issues of last year were something that should not have happened in the media. I was quickly over it and I don’t see any problem with working together. I think we both learned from it.”

Van Aert believes he and Evenepoel's strengths and ambitions are compatible.

“It's better to have Remco as a co-leader and to race together instead. That's something we for sure learned as a team and I think can make all the difference this year,” he said.

“Remco is not fast in a sprint but he can attack from afar. I can maybe wait a bit more and also have a good chance in a smaller group.”

Before travelling to Australia, Evenepoel conceded that he could be tired and his form fading after winning the Vuelta and targeting the time trial. He made it clear he is ready to help Van Aert if he is not at his best.

"I will have to see how my legs are after this Vuelta", Evenepoel said. "I just hope that I can still be at a good level, but if I’m not, I will do everything I can to get Wout up there in the sprint with great pleasure."

Van Aert and Evenepoel riding together can only bolster Belgium’s chances as they take on the rest of the world and other favourites such as Tadej Pogačar, Michael Matthews, Alberto Bettiol and Biniam Girmay in Wollongong.

Like racing a Belgian Classic

Van Aert will see the Wollongong course for the first time this week. He has studied the maps, profiles and videos and likes the long 266.9km distance, the fast wide roads and especially the Mount Pleasant climb on the circuits that rises 1.1km at 7.7%, with a maximum gradient of 14%.

The finish line is just seven kilometres away, allowing for riders to get back on and perhaps a few select riders to sprint for the rainbow jersey.

“It sounds really familiar to what we know in Belgium and the Classics,” Van Aert said of the course.

“I think I’ve proved I'm really strong on kicker climbs like that and so that’s good for my confidence. It’ll still be a super hard race and I think we have a super strong team. We can race to our own strengths.”

Van Aert turns 28 on September 15 and feels he is near the peak of his career. He has won so much but the world road race title is still missing from his palmares.

“I feel I’m still improving year on year, not only in my experience but also how I get into the best shape possible. I keep building on the base year on year. I think I’ve improved a lot in the final hour of the tough 250km races. That was a weakness but I’ve made some changes in training and it’s worked out.”

If Van Aert stays strong and wins the world title, he is adamant he will not race again to show off the new rainbow jersey. He has booked a holiday in Australia with his family and has no intentions of changing his mind.

“I’ve booked a holiday in Australia, so there’s no way the team can put me in any other race. I’ll have to find a criterium in Australia or something to show off the jersey.”