“Ever since 2018 it was my goal to win this race and to be able to point my finger into the sky for Michael.”
Wout van Aert’s voice cracks as he speaks. The 2018 edition of Paris Roubaix will be remembered for the death of Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts who suffered a cardiac arrest on the cobbled sector near Briastre. The Vérandas Willems-Crelan rider was 23-years-old when he passed away.
“There's a lot of things on my mind every year during this period,” says Van Aert, who made his debut at the race as one of Goolaerts’ teammates in 2018. “This year even more, because this was the first edition that we passed the sector where he died. During the recon I had some goosebumps passing there.”
Eight years later on from that day, he is a Paris-Roubaix winner, beating Tadej Pogačar in a two-up sprint in the famous velodrome.
“I like to believe Michael gave me some extra power today.”
Van Aert with extra power is a daunting proposition for any opponent. For the best part of a decade, we have witnessed his formidable strength. It has brought him many victories – 51 before today – a significant number, but not as many as we would have predicted after his early exploits in the Classics in 2018.
There have been crushing disappointments: crashes, illnesses, mechanicals. Van Aert has had to watch on, either from his sofa or behind on the road, as his rivals Mathieu van der Poel and Pogačar have made history.
However, it’s in those very lows where Van Aert has won his many, many fans. In sport, we love a nearly-man. In the moments when the Belgian seemed destined to clinch one of the big ones (Roubaix 2021, Tour of Flanders 2020), it hasn’t gone in his favour.
But today was different. The Belgian was up against a history-chasing Tadej Pogačar, on a quest to claim all five Monuments. And yet, it just felt like it was Van Aert’s day. It’s something he felt too. Asked when he believed he could win the race, he was candid: “From when I was on the road (after the pavé) with Tadej, because I basically then knew I had a fair chance. There was a long way to go and a lot could happen, but I truly believed when we were together that we would stay in front.”
Beating Pogačar, the greatest ever, makes it all the sweeter for Van Aert.
“To finish it off in this way in a sprint with Tadej Pogačar in his beautiful world champion’s jersey, I think there is no better way to do it. It’s a dream come true.”
The eruption inside the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux. Van Aert’s cathartic roar across the finish line. Beating the best ever to do the sport. The embraces with family, teammates and friends. The uncontrollable sobs. The memory of Goolaerts. This was better than history.
