Wout van Aert does win bike races, I promise. Just last year, the Belgian won stages at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, and has raised his arms in victory 51 times in his career.
However, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider has also finished second 49 times, and third 36 times. He has finished second twice at Dwars door Vlaanderen, first last year in bizarre circumstances, and now this season, when he had his heart broken just 150 metres from the finish line. There doesn't seem to be another rider like Van Aert when it comes to tragedy, and that's part of what makes him such a likeable rider. He is also incredibly unlucky.
On Wednesday, Van Aert attacked around 40km from the finish on the Eikenberg, and was then alone in the final 10km, before being passed just 150m from the line by eventual winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). It was another second place.
"It would have been nicer if the finish was 150m earlier, but I tried everything I had and I was really dying in the end, so if somebody passed me, that's racing," he said post-race on television.
"I got to the front after the Eikenberg, and I had good companions there with Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and [Niklas] Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets)," he explained of his day. "We cooperated well. I could feel the pace was slowly decreasing in the end so I had to try and attack and search for that victory. Until that very last moment I thought it would be just enough to make it, I almosty never looked back because I tried to focus on my own effort. After the last corner, suddenly, Ganna was there.
"I only knew it when he passed me because I tried not to look back and suddenly I saw a wheel next to me and I knew I would have nothing back.
"It was again a good race. A bit of a strange race in the middle part, the race got launched quite early. There was a lot of moments where we didn't really push on. There were a lot of guys coming back, so it took quite a while until we could make a proper selection. After the Eikenberg I did a really good final I believe."
For Van Aert, there is no time for despondency. He might have had his dream crushed by Ganna, but he also looked like the strongest man in the race, with his attack on the Eikenberg being unmatched. If he can carry this form into the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, then he could take the fight to Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar. His power is clear, even if he couldn't pull it off at Dwars.
That said, it is yet another disappointment for Van Aert, thanks Filippo Ganna. There will be no Wout Wednesday today.
