Almost 12 months ago to the day, Wout van Aert was left sitting against an anonymous patch of grass against a barrier in Waregem, with all but certain victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen for Visma-Lease a Bike thrown away, and a Visma three-against-one finish with Neilson Powless lost.
Visma-Lease a Bike put on an exhibition to get three riders up the road in the last 71km. With the EF Education-EasyPost rider following, Van Aert told Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson not to attack, but to instead wait to lead him out in the sprint.
When it came to the finish, and with everyone expecting him to dominate Powless, Van Aert cramped and was left to think of just what a mistake he had made in wanting victory for himself too much, as Powless celebrated jubilantly just metres in front of him.
"It's quite simple, I wanted this victory really bad. It was me making the decision quite early on that I wanted to sprint," said Van Aert as he relived the heartbreak. "I was just too selfish and afraid I would come into a situation where I would not be able to go for the first place, and that's a big mistake."
Van Aert returns to the Dwars door Vlaanderen alongside a strong squad with Matthew Brennan and Christophe Laporte offering different finishing options. Visma certainly learned their lesson last year, and they won't be looking to employ similar tactics if a situation like that arises again in Wednesday's race.
"We're looking forward to racing. I think indeed, we have a very strong team there. Hopefully we can make the race, and we finish it off better than last year," Visma's head of racing Grischa Niermann told Cyclingnews on the eve of the race.
"We even have, I would say, to play it safer if you get into a situation like that. We shouldn't ever go to the sprint again, because if you arrive solo, you know you've won.
"We made a big mistake last year, and we took it with us, and we'll certainly not make that same mistake again. But, of course, it could still be that the race ends in the sprint tomorrow, and then we'll go for it, but if we have the opportunity, then it's better when somebody goes solo."
With the nature of the packed calendar, Niermann did not dwell on last year's blunder. Being the leader he is in the team, Van Aert was the first to say when he's made a mistake.
"I think for you journalists, that it's a big thing, because we are going to do the Dwars door Vlaanderen again. But for us, it's been a year, we had some learnings from there; It didn't go well, and we went on from that, but it's not something that I need to highlight now today," said Niermann.
"I think we are always racing as a team collective. Wout is a really good leader and a really good team player, and he knows he made a mistake there. We will approach it differently if that same scenario happens again.
"For us, it's not about Dwars door Vlaanderen, it's about these scenarios in races, because they can also happen anywhere; in the Amstel Gold Race, for example."
Van Aert has impressed so far this spring Classics despite having a delayed start due to a fractured ankle suffered racing cyclo-cross in January.
He recovered from the pre-Cipressa crash that also affected Tadej Pogačar at Milan-San Remo. After having to wait for a slow bike change, he miraculously fought his way through the groups before attacking solo to finish third behind the World Champion and Tom Pidcock.
He then got his cobbled campaign underway at In Flanders Fields (Gent-Wevelgem), launching the key attack which saw him and eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel get away on the second Kemmelberg ascent, before following the Dutchman on the third time and doing the lion's share of work from the two-man move.
They were ultimately caught in the final 2km, but it was a positive sign for Van Aert with the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix looming large in the next week and a half. Having changed his calendar back to include San Remo and Strade Bianche after moving his altitude camp to earlier in the season, the refresh seems to be paying off… for now.
"For now, it looks good. He's in very good shape. He's very confident. And I think it was the right approach," said Niermann on Tuesday.
"It's not about what we did the last few years not working, but it's also about changing things a little bit every once in a while, because if you do exactly the same for year after year after year, then it also gets a bit worn out, a bit old.
"That was also part of the idea that he would not do E3 because he did that now for five years in a row, with the same approach between E3 and Flanders and Roubaix, and we just wanted to change a few things. There's no guarantee for success, but it keeps you fresh."
Whether or not the change has fully worked to reach new heights will be revealed fully on April 5 and April 12, but righting the wrongs at Dwars door Vlaanderen from last year could set him on the perfect path to finally taking out one of the Monuments he so desperately desires, and his first since San Remo in 2020.
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