'Perfection doesn't exist' – Can Wout van Aert maintain top form after admitting Vuelta wasn't just a 'preparation race' for World Championships?

A week on from his 32nd birthday, Wout van Aert will head to Canada to join his Belgian teammates ahead of the UCI Road World Championships, with five days to finalise plans alongside co-leader Remco Evenepoel ahead of the road race on September 27.

It will be his first appearance at the road Worlds since Glasgow 2023, where he finished second behind eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel, and he's approaching the showpiece event in some of the best form of his career after the Vuelta a España.

With two stages, several assists for Matthew Brennan, the green jersey, and the supercombativity prize all claimed, Van Aert stressed that these three weeks in Spain were not by any means a "preparation race," even though he couldn't deny that he's in flying form.

"Perfection doesn't exist. I think in two weeks it's already there; [I] definitely have good legs and big goals, so we need to try and recover from this Vuelta and we go for it in Montreal," said Van Aert after the Vuelta's finale in Granada.

"This wasn't a preparation race, you know. This was a goal in itself, from which we tried to get the most out of every day. The World Championships are coming up, but so far we have naturally focused on the Vuelta."

Belgium's other superstar rider, Evenepoel, has been racing in Canada at the GP Quebec and Montreal, winning the former and taking fifth in the latter as he showed mixed form. But what's certain is that with both he and Van Aert in the same team, they only become more dangerous as threats to win solo or from a sprint, as shown in the Paris Olympics or Wollongong '22, where Evenepoel claimed the victories.

National coach Serge Pauwels will have his hands full formulating just how they take things on in two weeks, with the final not set to be laid out to the riders until those who have been racing the Vuelta arrive.

"Wout arrives next Tuesday [September 22], so we still have 5-6 days before the World Championships. That is enough time to put our heads together," said Pauwels to national broadcaster Sporza.

"The World Championships are ridden without earpieces, so little can be adjusted during the race. The riders will have to anticipate the changing conditions in the race.

"Wout rode a very strong Vuelta. He will be ready in two weeks, because riders like that usually reach a peak in form in the week to two or three weeks after a Grand Tour. That works out perfectly for him, just as it does for Thibau Nys and Gianni Vermeersch, who will complete our selection in Canada in nine days."

Thibau Nys offers full support for two all-time greats

Nys will travel to Montreal on the same day as Van Aert, and after battling his way through illness and injury to even make it to the start of the Vuelta in Monaco on August 22, he had to fight even more to make it all the way to the Granada finale.

"If you had shown me the results of this Vuelta before the season, I would not have been happy or not be satisfied with it, but according to all the setbacks I had: the knee surgery, then the sickness before the Vuelta, and the heat stroke during the Vuelta, I would say I'm satisfied," Nys told Cyclingnews before the last stage.

"I'm happy with the two third places I got; the second one especially was quite a strong effort," – losing out to Van Aert from a breakaway into Córdoba – "But it's been a bit of mixed feelings.

"I found myself really growing in shape in the first two weeks, and then the heat stroke came just before the second rest day, and there was a small setback. Since then, I found myself not really improving anymore, but feeling the tiredness in my body coming up. So I'm looking forward a lot to a few easy days now."

Montreal will see Nys' debut in the elite men's road race at the World Championships, having finished sixth as an under-23 back in 2021 in Leuven, and he will make up part of Belgium's supporting cast alongside Vermeersch, Tiesj Benoot, Alec Segaert, Maxim Van Gils, and Quinten Hermans.

"I'm looking forward to it a lot. It looks like Wout and Remco are in incredible shape at the moment," said Nys.

"It's been spectacular to view also from the race itself. Even now, when they're still active riders, they will for sure go down as some of the biggest stars in the history of cycling, and to be riding with them, it's a big honour as well. I will just really try to be at my best level, at my best game, and prove that I can be helpful."

While the absence of Tadej Pogačar after his crash at the Vuelta leaves the Belgians as the likely favourites in Montreal, they know that winning the race will require them to beat almost all of the other top riders in the world. They won't be taking their status for granted.

"I think Del Toro and Seixas are the biggest competitors. Pidcock is also in top form," said national coach Pauwels. "And then there is Mathieu van der Poel. There is still a bit more of a question mark behind his form. He will still ride the Tour of Luxembourg. But you always have to reckon with him. If he makes the trip to Canada, it won't be to fill out the peloton."

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