VALS PLAT - Ronde-verslag van twee Lotto-boys (met Toon Aerts en Jenno Berckmoes)

·1 hr 21 min·6 clips

Toon Aerts explains why he's shifting from cyclocross to road cycling after years of dominance.

1. Friends of Sports' Valsplat episode features two Lotto Intermarché riders — Toon Aerts and Jenno Berckmoes — for a Tour of Flanders debrief and Paris-Roubaix preview. 2. Hosts are Max and Japper; both Toon and Jenno are guests for the first time as a duo, the first time the show has hosted two riders from the same team. 3. The episode frames Toon's debut Tour of Flanders as its central narrative thread alongside Jenno's spring form and team tactics. 4. Toon Aerts, 32, two-time European cross champion, describes the final two hours of his first Tour of Flanders as requiring maximum effort on every single climb just to stay in the peloton — a physical sensation he had never experienced in his career. 5. Toon traced his connection to the Tour of Flanders back to age 10, riding reconnaissance roads with his family, describing his first start in Antwerp as an honor. 6. He miscalculated his tire resistance for the Koppenberg and argues that a wet Koppenberg would have suited his cross background, noting that in dry conditions three riders (Van der Poel, Jorgensen, and Pedersen) rode clean while the rest created chaos. 7. Jenno Berckmoes entered the race with 11th at San Remo, 13th at Harelbeke, and 11th at Wevelgem, and was designated as co-protected rider, but a crash left him covered in stickers and forced the team to adapt plans by the Holleweg. 8. The team's race plan had no breakaway presence initially, but when a group of 15 formed near Sint-Niklaas with a strong composition including De Wulf, Frison, and Lampaert, Luca van Boven was allowed to join and was ultimately brought back on the Bercht and Houten section. 9. The episode discusses a controversial incident where the peloton crossed a red railway signal, with both riders noting that communication between rail operator Infrabel and the race organization was absent, and that Pogacar and Evenepoel may be followed by race marshals as a result. 10. Jenno recounts his race history at Ronde: two DNFs starting from Brugge (including a crash involving Mathieu van der Poel and the whole peloton), and two finishes starting from Antwerp. 11. Wout van Aert's popularity is illustrated by Jenno noting that within the race, you always know where Van Aert is because spectators call his name continuously, making his position audible from a distance. 12. The riders discuss Mads Pedersen's participation — coming back from a collarbone fracture, a wrist fracture, and illness — and call him a 'legend' for starting. 13. The Tadej Pogacar tactical debate centers on whether Van der Poel was obliged by his position to chase toward Oudenaarde, whether doing so helped or hurt his chances, and whether a different response by Van der Poel and Evenepoel could have made a combined challenge more effective. 14. Toon frames Pogacar's class above Wout, Mathieu, and Evenepoel with the phrase 'he's the one who still plays a bit with it,' describing him as a different category than the other three. 15. Pogacar's third Tour of Flanders win puts him in the three-time winners' club alongside Van der Poel, Boonen, Museeuw, and Cancellara; Toon was photographed with two members of that club in the VIP area. 16. Toon describes his first Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance as shocking — the Forest of Arenberg cobblestones are missing stones, with puddles, in a state he called 'really not to be done,' and his hand was opened on the third practice pass. 17. He plans to race with double handlebars and satellite shifters to manage grip, and has studied tire pressure extensively based on his cross experience, though he declined to reveal the final pressure figure. 18. The episode is conversational throughout, with hosts and guests trading humor about Jenno's vlog metrics (89 likes not being 'going viral'), team presentation rituals, and the K3 dance Toon's brother choreographed for the race presentation two years prior. 19. Cycling fans tracking the 2026 spring classics and Lotto Intermarché's roster development would find this episode directly useful. 20. Listeners with no interest in professional road cycling or Belgian cycling culture would not find this episode relevant.

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