Rare Van Aert-Van der Poel duel tells us little ahead of Tour of Flanders

This hasn’t happened as often as we thought it would. When Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert contested the finale of the 2020 Tour of Flanders, it looked as though theirs was the duel that would define the cobbled Classics in the new decade.

Instead, head-to-head contests between the eternal rivals have been few and far between in spring, where Van der Poel’s regular dance partner has been Tadej Pogačar. Van Aert cut in on the action in 2023, winning E3 Harelbeke from a three-up sprint, but he was put firmly in the corner at the Tour of Flanders a week later, dropped by the Big Two on the Kruisberg.

This edition of Gent-Wevelgem was thus something of a collector’s item, as Van Aert and Van der Poel were alone together off the front in the finale of a Classic for only the second time since that pandemic-delayed Ronde of 2020.

While the rivalry remains intact, their paths have diverged in the years since. Van Aert’s best moments have come in Grand Tours, often in the service of others, while Van der Poel has remorselessly gone about the business of winning Monuments.

Van der Poel has racked up eight of them since Van Aert collected his lone Monument win at Milan-Sanremo six years ago, but the biggest one-day prizes remain the raison d’être for both men.

Circumstances – namely crashes – mean that Van Aert hasn’t gone close since he punctured out of contention at Paris-Roubaix in 2023, just when he was vying to put Van der Poel to the sword on the Carrefour de l’Arbre. Still, hope springs eternal, and Van Aert lined up at Gent-Wevelgem buoyed by his third place at Milan-Sanremo a week ago.

Van Aert’s confidence here was visible on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg with 57km to go, when he launched a seated acceleration that only Van der Poel and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) could follow.

That trio would quickly bridge across to the day’s early break, and when they circled back to the Kemmelberg 20km later, it was Van der Poel’s turn to unfurl a seated acceleration on that steep stack of cobbles. 

Only Van Aert could come with him, battling gamely to close a two-length gap to Van der Poel’s rear wheel on the steepest portion of the climb. The pair would strike up a working agreement over the other side, maintaining a lead of some 45 seconds over the chasing peloton.

Game on? Yes, but only to a degree. While Van der Poel and Van Aert were notionally allies of circumstance here, the Dutchman wasn’t quite as committed to the bit as his old sparring partner. With eventual winner Jasper Philipsen in the bunch just behind, Van der Poel was understandably in two minds about going all the way to the finish to contest a two-up sprint that offered no guarantees of success.

While Van der Poel was happy to give Van Aert information on time gaps when the Belgian’s radio malfunctioned, his turns on the front became shorter as Wevelgem drew nearer and the Philipsen group pulled closer.

Counter-attacker Alec Segaert bridged across in the finale to provide some reinforcements, but by then, the arc of the day’s narrative was bending in another direction. The leaders were caught with a kilometre or so remaining. Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Philipsen would win the sprint, while Van Aert’s Visma | Lease a Bike comrade Christophe Laporte had to settle for third.

Van Aert already won Gent-Wevelgem back in 2021 and then ceded victory to Laporte two years later, while Van der Poel has never won the race. But for each man, this race – now under the unwieldy moniker of In Flanders Fields: From Middelkerke to Wevelgem – was only ever a milestone on the way to the Tour of Flanders rather than a destination in itself. 

It’s difficult to say with certainty what Van Aert and Van der Poel’s raid off the front here tells us about their respective prospects next Sunday, though there appeared to be reassurance in the Visma camp.

“I think Wout is getting better by the week. He is simply good,” directeur sportif Arthur van Dongen said afterwards. 

But how good? And how reliable a yardstick for the Ronde was Van der Poel here, given that he arrived at this race just 48 hours after going so deep to win the E3 Saxo Classic? 

Van Aert, by contrast, had opted against racing in Harelbeke to complete a training block during the week. He was notionally fresher than Van der Poel and certainly more generous in his efforts in the closing kilometres.

Still, Van Aert will draw encouragement from how he performed here. Twelve months ago, Van Aert never once competed on the same plane as Van der Poel on the cobbles, and so this edition of Gent-Wevelgem marked clear progress on 2025.

But it might also have been something of a phony war, given Van der Poel’s circumstances. After all, he had the exertions of Harelbeke weighing on his legs and the presence of Philipsen impinging on his tactics. This wasn’t quite a full-blooded contest between Van der Poel and Van Aert, more a case of two old rivals sizing one another up ahead of the main event next weekend.

“I was able to follow Mathieu on the final ascent of the Kemmel, and I am satisfied with how I was able to race,” Van Aert said. “Unfortunately, the result didn’t follow, but it was still a great day.”

Van Aert will hope to improve further at Dwars door Vlaanderen in midweek, while Van der Poel was already jetting to Spain on Sunday night to put the finishing touches to his preparation for the Tour of Flanders. 

The stakes will be different there, but so will the opposition. “Of course it will be very difficult against Tadej, but I will try to be at my best there,” Van der Poel said. 

Both Van der Poel and Van Aert had positive afternoons at Gent-Wevelgem - but they both know they will need to be better than this to deny the world champion next Sunday.