Wout van Aert rules out GC bid at Giro d'Italia, refusing to 'sacrifice' the Classics

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will not target the general classification at the 2024 Giro d’Italia, instead focusing on stage wins in a refusal to compromise on the Spring Classics.

With Van Aert outlining his intention to shake up his season and make his Giro d’Italia debut in 2024, coupled with the announcement of a less climbing-heavy route for the Italian Grand Tour, there had been speculation that the Belgian all-rounder might try to win the race outright.

However, he has now tempered that notion in an appearance on the De Rode Lantaarn podcast, with his words widely circulated in the Belgian press.

“I can't officially confirm it, but suppose I go to the Giro,” Van Aert said with a laugh at the open secret. “Then I would prefer to go for stages.”

• Read more: Wout van Aert: The main goal for 2024 is the Giro d'Italia

Van Aert has previously won mountain stages at the Tour de France, where he has even dropped Tadej Pogačar on a summit finish, and he notably placed second overall behind Pogačar at the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico.

With his ability as one of the world’s top time triallists, the potential is there, but it would likely mean a radical change in his profile as a rider, with the need to drop weight and become a consistent lean climbing machine. That does not marry up with a serious tilt at the Spring Classics – where he is yet to win the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix – just a month before the Giro, nor with a winter of cyclo-cross at a time when most GC riders have a monk-like focus and a heavy schedule of altitude training camps.

“I’m not really into limits, but riding for a classification cannot really be combined with the other competitions that I participate in. I wouldn't like to sacrifice other things to get a good result in a classification,” Van Aert said.

“Finishing fifth in the Giro, but being bored for the rest of the year and going on altitude training 100 times and losing another two kilos, I don't really like that. Now I can do many different things and I think it's cool to combine them in one year.

"If I had classification ambitions, it would not be not to win, because my morphology is against me. And if it is not to win, I think it is a shameful sacrifice,” he added.

Van Aert is now gearing up for his return to cyclo-cross next weekend, although his winter approach has been tweaked given his change of coach, with Mathieu Heijboer replacing his trusted old ally Marc Lamberts, who has followed Primož Roglič to Bora-Hansgrohe.

“Mathieu puts different accents," Van Aert said. "We have consciously chosen to approach the ‘cross season a little more slowly and build up more progressively towards the road season."