Lotto-Soudal U23’s Ilan Van Wilder has had one of the best debut seasons as an U23 in recent memory, as the young Belgian emerged as a massive GC prospect who can hang with the very best in the high mountains. He is more than just a climber though, as the strong TT rider, given he is from Belgium, is also a good one-day racer.
There have been strong rumours he is going to move up to his WorldTour team from the start of next season, but he has done enough in 2020 to show his immense class.
Whilst an early crash in the U23 TT at the Worlds ruined his day, the young Belgian spoke with U23 Cycling Zone at the finish, covering a number of topics, including his dream season.
“I’m not so happy that I crashed today, it was a very, very dangerous TT. I started 20th so I didn’t know the dangers of the road. You can see the guys out there now, it’s like they’re riding their bikes in a pool. I crashed out of nowhere. It’s dangerous and I’m frustrated about that and that it ended that way.”
Ilan will quickly shake off the disappointment of the TT and turn his attention to Friday’s road race, where he will play a key role in the Belgian team, home to arguably the race’s biggest favourite, Jasper Philipsen.
“We have a good leader in Jasper Philipsen. He’s going to be very fast in the finish with a small group. We will do everything for him and we will try to make it a hard race and I think we have a really strong team. I’m looking forward to Friday.”
On the morning of the TT, Belgian paper Het Nieuwsblad reported Ilan would jump to the WorldTour with Lotto-Soudal from the start of 2020. Ilan confirmed this is an option, but no final decision has been taken yet.
“I think I am physically ready to make the jump to the pros. I am deciding after my season, we are looking to see what is best for me and my development as a rider. Once that is done, I will decide.”
Ilan’s season basically showed he could excel anywhere: he was 3rd overall at both l’Avenir and Orlens GP, 4th with a stage win at the Peace Race, 7th overall in Isard, 11th in Flanders, 14th in Liege, 15th overall in an edition of the Triptyque dominated by fastmen and TT specialists and 14th overall in the high mountains of Valle d’Aosta. In the TTs, he was 9th in the Euros and 3rd in the Belgian U23 event too. Ilan spoke about being an all-rounder, as well as his development goals for the future.
“I am happy that I’m an all rounder who can do everything. I can sprint, well at least I am fast from a small group, so that helps. I can climb and TT, and I am usually good in one-day races, so it’s good that I have options to develop as a rider. But for the future I will focus on the TT and climbing for GCs.”
Given his desire to work on climbing and time trialling, there is no shock that Ilan believes if he continues his rapid rate of progression, he cannot achieve his dream of winning a Grand Tour at some point in the future.
“Later in my career, given my capabilities as a rider, I think it’s possible to try and go for the win in the Tour de France or the other Grand Tours. That’s my dream.”
Ilan Van Wilder is a massive talent, and I 100% agree with him that he is ready for the pros. Maybe he could have stayed another six months as an U23 and tried to win Isard/Peace Race/Giro, but if he wants to move up, then I’m more than OK with that. This guy is going to be big, I think he will challenge for WT stage races and perhaps even a Grand Tour in the next few seasons.
U23 Cycling Zone wishes to thank Ilan for taking the time to speak with us and we wish him all the best for the future, whether that immediate future is with us again as an U23 or in the pros. He isn’t a Twitter user, but his Instagram is linked here.
U23 Cycling Zone 