We are in a special cycling year. Because in addition to the traditional calendar, we will soon also have the Olympic Games. This will be a special race, as there will be barely 90 riders at the start. However, 270 kilometers still have to be bridged.
Belgian of the spring
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, national coach Sven Vanthourenhout already showed his cards a bit. However, he chose the Belgian of the spring to start with. “All admiration and respect for the way Van Gils manifested himself, Van Eetvelt managed the UAE Tour and Nys scored in Romandie on Thursday. But Jasper Philipsen has an advantage,” he is clear.
“He won a Monument with Milan-San Remo. And he confirmed in Paris-Roubaix, although that may have been in line with what we saw coming.” However, I did not drive an E3, Ronde or Amstel… “That’s right. If he continues his classic story and wants to continue to evolve, things will have to happen. But in a team with Mathieu van der Poel it is not easy to plan ‘De Ronde’ and just assume that he can ride the final there.”
Philipsen lacks selection
And that could well become a determining factor for a selection for the Olympic Games. “I’m not saying that Paris will be a blueprint for the World Cup in Glasgow, but in terms of intensity it comes close.” Glasgow also had a classic profile and Philipsen was the winner there. “The final of the Olympic road race is close to races such as Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Saxo Classic and Tour of Flanders, where you have to cross several (cobblestone) climbs in the end.”
“In that respect, I would have liked to see Jasper ride such a ‘Flemish’ final, to determine how far he can go. I can barely select four riders and have to be sure of those four. Merely ‘giving someone a taste of it’ is not an option.” So Philipsen does not seem to have to hope too hard for a selection.
Van Aert and Evenepoel incontournable
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that not 8 or 9, but only four riders may be selected. And then, in Belgium, we are among the lucky ones. Others may only select 3 (such as the Netherlands, ed.) or fewer riders. However, there are already two certainties in Vanthourenhout’s selection: Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert.
“If you look at which riders Tadej Pogacar and Van der Poel come closest to and who can definitely make things difficult for those two after a long and tough race, you always end up with Remco and Wout. There aren’t many driving around like that. The fact that we have two of that caliber in Belgium is a luxury. They are also our two strongest time trialists,” he leaves no room for discussion about that.
Although Van Aert’s time trial has been somewhat blunted, it seems. “My reaction is then: who do you put in your place? If a Belgian stands up tomorrow and rides Wout three or four times per minute in a time trial, then I’ll say: ‘fine, we’ll reconsider’. Until further notice, he is still more than entitled to one of those two tickets.”
