World Championships 2021: Wout van Aert says he’s ‘only human’ as he admits he didn’t have legs to follow Julian Alaphilippe

Wout van Aert said he’s only human as he admitted he didn’t have the legs to follow Julian Alaphilippe at the 2021 World Championships. 

Belgian star Van Aert went into the elite men’s road race with the pressure of an entire nation on his shoulders, as the world champion was decided on the roads of his home region, Flanders. 

Despite a dominant performance from the Belgian team, including a peerless support ride from Remco Evenepoel, Van aert just didn’t have the form to follow Alaphilippe, who launched a trio of devastating attacks in the final 20km. 

Speaking after the finish, a visibly dejected Van Aert said: “The attacking started really early. I didn’t expect that so early.  

“I expected it to be a difficult race for us. We kept cool and we were always in control, even in the final. We had Remco there as well as me and Jasper [Stuyven] which was what we’d hoped for, but my legs just weren’t good enough in the final. 

“Once Alaphilippe kept attacking, I wasn’t able to follow and it was hard to fight because I knew it wasn’t for the win.” 

Van Aert added: “On the Leuven circuit I felt my legs getting empty and told Stuyven I didn't have the legs. I'm only human after all. Alaphilippe was the strongest.”

The Belgian national champion was forced to settle for a finish just outside the top-10, as he finished in the third group on the road, 1-18 behind the winner Alaphilippe.

There had been a huge amount of expectation on Van Aert’s shoulders heading into the race, after he won four stages and the overall on the Tour of Britain heading into the race. 

>>> Julian Alaphilippe: ‘The Belgian fans asked me to slow down and weren’t very nice - that gave me extra motivation’ 

He had also claimed the silver medal in the elite men’s TT on the opening weekend of the Worlds, after a fascinating battle with eventual winner Filippo Ganna (Italy).

Despite the strength of the Belgian team in the men’s road race, the host nation came out of the 2021 Worlds without a rainbow jersey, as Van Aert’s second in the TT was the closest they came as the week of racing came to a close.