Wout Van Aert 3rd in Liège – Bastogne – Liège

Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) managed to secure another spot on the podium in a cycling monument. After an eventful race, he finished in 3rd place, 48 seconds behind compatriot Remco Evenepoel (Quick Step Alpha Vinyl Team). In the sprint between the chasers, he only had to give way to Quinten Hermans (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert) making it an all-Belgian podium. Wout said he was "completely drained". "I was afraid someone was going to pass me. Quinten passed me with a lot of speed. If the line had been five meters further, two more would have finished ahead of me. I did everything I could to sprint for the podium, but it took a lot of energy, I had to go and get several guys." Despite this result, Van Aert is not disappointed. "I'm not starting to be third, but I have to be proud of that result," he added.

Despite Sunday's result not being what it should have been, Van Aert is positive about the future. He said, "If I have a super day, and the race conditions are right, I think it's possible to win here. But I will have to make choices: to win here, the preparation has to be perfect.

Van Aert sums up his spring as follows: A victory in the Omloop and the E3-prijs, but his big goal, winning a monument, didn't work out. This was partly due to his infection with the corona virus. However, he was pleasantly surprised by this 3rd place and his 2nd place in Roubaix. "My spring was good, but it was not 10 out of 10. He said to himself.

The race itself was anything but trouble-free. Despite the fact that there were no crashes for a long time, there was a huge crash about 60km from the finish. During the descent of the Col du Rosier, a large part of the peloton crashed, with Julian Alaphilippe being the biggest victim. He broke his shoulder blade and two ribs.