'Almost hurts to see him lose one like that' - Pedersen explains heartfelt moment with Van Aert at Dwars door Vlaanderen finish

In 2025, Van Aert was outsprinted by Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) in a four-man finish containing three Visma riders. Van Aert received plenty of backlash and criticism following the result.

The Belgian was out for redemption this time around, surging clear from the peloton on the Eikenberg, with over 40km remaining, before catching a trio of early attackers. Van Aert went solo with just under 10km to go and battled his way to hold off the chasing pack, featuring Pedersen. 

It was a nail-biting finish, but Van Aert was cruelly denied his chance at redemption in the race’s final breath, when a powerful Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) slingshot past the Belgian with 100 metres to go to take his first one-day victory in Waregem, with Van Aert resigned to 2nd.

“It’s cursed here,” said Van Aert in footage captured by the Dutch team shortly after the finish, summing up his current relationship with the race.

Meanwhile, Pedersen, who finished 10th from the chasing peloton, was captured on camera going over to Van Aert after the finish, and stating, “I have so much respect for you. You’re unbelievable.”

The former World Champion explained that the heartfelt interaction was something that he did in the spur of the moment, with Van Aert’s resilience being a key factor as to why he holds so much respect for the Belgian. 

“I can’t say why I felt the need to say that to him, but in that moment I just needed to tell him that I have enormous respect for him as a person and a rider, and for the way he handles the ups and downs,” Pedersen told TV2.

“To see him miss out on a win like that again... Last year, you could have a bit of a laugh at them and think: ‘What on earth are you up to?’ But this year, it almost hurts to see him lose one like that,” explained Pedersen. 

Pedersen also addressed the media attention that surrounds Van Aert in his native Belgium and believes that the Visma rider can be unfairly treated in terms of the coverage he receives.

“He’s also one of the greatest riders of our time, and at times the media coverage surrounding him can be quite harsh,” said Pedersen. “He doesn’t deserve that at all, because people forget how many hours and how much work goes into this.”

“I know better than anyone just how much work he puts in, because I do the same as him,” added Pedersen.

The duo will feature at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday alongside the likes of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). It will mark only the third time that the quartet have all lined up for the same race, following the World Championships in 2021 (Leuven) and 2023 (Glasgow).