Tirreno-Adriatico TT Win for Van Aert

He can sprint, he can climb and he can certainly time trial as Wout van Aert wins the final stage Time Trial ahead of the European and World Time Trial champions

Van Aert wins final time trial Tirreno-Adriatico

Wout van Aert has won the final time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico in impressive fashion. In the streets of San Benedetto del Tronto, the Belgian time trial champion beat European champion Stefan Küng and World champion Filippo Ganna.

Van Aert also secured his second place in the general classification after an excellent week in the Italian race. He also won the Points jersey. It was Van Aert’s second stage victory in this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico after he was the fastest sprinter on stage 1.

Wout Van Aert was elated after his latest victory. “I am very happy with this victory and with my second place in the general classification. This was the ideal scenario for today. We rode yesterday’s stage with this day in mind. It’s great to end the week like this. I am getting better and better at this discipline every year. Last winter, we did a lot to improve our time trial. It gives me a lot of confidence that I can win in my first time trial of the year.”

“The field was very strong with almost all top time trialists here so this time trial did hurt a lot. Of course it is difficult to get everyone to ride in the same conditions, but it (the wind) did play a role, I think”, he says. “The first part was tailwind and the second part against the wind. So it was important to have some legs left for the final, but it was too short to really hold back. In the first part, I mainly rode at speed and in the second part on power that I could still maintain. I gave everything” adds Van Aert”.

On beating Küng and Ganna, he says “I hoped to be with those men for a short time, but to beat them is good for confidence. It’s really good for the confidence that I can beat those men here. I felt very good this week in the Tirreno. I know that I am very versatile and would like to focus on more things.”

The leader of Team Jumbo-Visma did not hide his classification ambitions. “This was the first time I went for the GC in a stage race. I am only beaten by the winner of the Tour de France. So I can say it is not a bad start of this experiment. We will try this more often in the future. For now, the classics are the main goal. I am looking forward to competing for wins in the various Monuments. I know from last year that I recover pretty well after a tough race. That gives me confidence going into Milan-San Remo this Saturday. I will try to defend my title, but I am not the only favourite”.

I also think that the conclusion is that Tirreno-Adriatico is within my means to win but to do so everything must go well. Maybe in the future, but against the real climbers it will remain very difficult. ”