Fabian Cancellara: 'Wout van Aert should focus on fewer things' like Mathieu van der Poel

Seven-time Monument winner and Tudor Pro Cycling manager Fabian Cancellara believes that Wout van Aert should consider dialling down his focus rather than spreading himself too thin across multiple disciplines and types of races in order to maximise his potential.

The Visma-Lease a Bike leader is one of the best all-round riders in the world, capable of winning Spring Classics, elite time trials and being one of the super-domestiques in Grand Tours, but like several other riders, he has run up against Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the Classics.

Read more: Analysis: Is the Van der Poel-Van Aert rivalry stretching to breaking point?

The Dutch rider won the E3 Saxo Classic at a canter last week, putting Van Aert to the sword in their first road encounter after dominating the Belgian in the cyclo-cross season. Van Aert has come up short - in comparison to Van der Poel - in the Classics for the last few seasons, winning one Monument to Van der Poel’s four, and Cancellara believes that the Visma rider should shift more emphasis onto fewer areas, to maximise his opportunities.

“I don’t know Wout but when you look two years ago with Wout, I don’t think he’s become slower, but he has to focus on one thing instead of being the last domestique rider for [Jonas] Vingegaard, and that sort of thing,” Cancellara told GCN during a call on Tuesday morning.

“It’s like with Filippo Ganna, he still thinks about the track and not just fully on the road, because in my opinion, he could still do Roubaix and Flanders. If you focus on one thing then it might make you better. It’s as if Van der Poel started to focus on his time trial. It’s not good and we can see with Mathieu that he focuses on fewer things but where he does focus he’s super good. The others have to work on this in my opinion.”

Cancellara watched the Spring Classics unfold from afar, managing his Tudor team to several respectable results but also casting his eye on the best riders in the world. At E3, he saw Van der Poel decimate the field in a manner befitting of his own standards during his heyday, while at Gent-Wevelgem the former pro watched on as Lidl-Trek pulled Van der Poel apart before Mads Pedersen dispatched with him in the sprint finish.

“E3 and Gent-Wevelgem were quite interesting races and they gave us some ideas but still, Flanders is Flanders. It’s a bigger race, and it’s just different and can’t be compared to what we’ve seen before,” Cancellara said.

Both races highlighted the changing nature of the Classics, and how momentum can shift from race to race depending on several circumstances. Van der Poel looks beatable under the right circumstances, while Lidl-Trek needs to rely on their collective cohesion to shine, and despite running third at E3, there are still questions about Van Aert and the durability of his team following several crashes and illnesses.

Read more: The Van der Poel rules: How to beat cycling's best Classics rider

“Those guys are beatable. I remember the ‘please have mercy, Fabian’ signs they put up for me. I was also human but if things are going perfectly then it can be more of a demonstration. But for me, winning Harelbeke wasn’t about the two-minute gap Mathieu had because if you saw the riders in the chase they had other things to think about. At the front, it was just a time trial to the finish but at the back it’s cold, there are attacks, and you’re thinking about other things,” Cancellara said.

“The performance of Mathieu was one thing in E3, and then we saw the change, the crash for Wout, and then we saw a strong Lidl-Trek on Sunday. What will be interesting to see is whether Wout can make a step up from Dwars door Vlaanderen to Sunday. Has he recovered and does he have enough confidence because Mathieu is more ahead on the current schedule? Is Wout’s team strong enough, and can they support him enough?”

Read more:

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• Spring Classics 2024: Essential guide to the races and riders

Lidl-Trek can win Flanders, anything is possible

Cancellara wouldn’t be drawn on his absolute favourite for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, instead highlighting the depth within the field, and picking out the final two ascents as the likely launchpad for the race-winning moves.

“With the last time they pass the Kwaremont and the Pateberg, these are tough climbs, and these two will have a deciding moment. There are others but with Mathieu, he’s so strong. What we don’t know is whether he’s had his peak. I don’t have favourites, maybe Matteo Trentin, for our team, but whether a rider has five stars or four stars, there’s a real balance, and it’s over a very tough race. In Gent-Wevelgem it was more about the diesel engines but Flanders will be different. Lidl-Trek, Wout and Mathieu are the three names, but when it comes to Trek it also depends on how they take on the race,” he added.

“They know how to win and lose Flanders but if they race properly then they can win. What they’ve done with Jonathan Milan has been excellent but maybe he’s a bit too big for some of the Flanders climbs, so they have to think again but you never know because anything is possible in Flanders.”

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