‘We were chasing the facts’ – Wout van Aert switches to helper status at Clásica Jaén in tougher season start than expected

Some 30 kilometres from the finish of the Clásica Jaén, just after the race had clattered through severely technical sections of narrow cobbled streets in the Andalusian town of Úbeda, Wout van Aert finally opted to sit up, his day’s work done. The battle for victory in Spain’s only sterrato Classic was continuing, but the top pre-race favourite was no longer part of it.

There had been much talk beforehand of Van Aert’s unfinished business with Jaén after an untimely encounter between his rear tyre and a large nail in one of the early gravel sectors of the 2024 race had put paid to his chances.