There was nothing he could do about it, but that didn't make it any easier to accept. And Wout Van Aert was still reeling from the blow when he entered the press room on Sunday, just an hour after the world championship road race in Imola, Italy.

For the second time in the last three days, the Belgian, with a silver medal around his neck, took his seat at the top table. For the second time in three days, his press conference was paused while a man in a rainbow jersey took a seat alongside him.

Van Aert, who lost to Filippo Ganna (ITA) in Friday's individual time trial, fell to Julien Alaphilippe (FRA) in the main event. In both cases, the winner's advantage was unassailable, but an hour after the finish, there was little consolation for Van Aert.

"I think it's still too early to be proud. It's hard to accept two silver medals when I came here with such high expectations," Van Aert said.

"Having said that, I lost twice to much stronger athletes. But I aim to win. I have really strong legs. I just need time to be proud of it."

After a remarkable run that included victories at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo and a repeat of his phenomenal strength at the Tour de France, Van Aert became the first man ever to win time trial and road race world titles in the same year He arrived in Imola with realistic aspirations of becoming the first man ever to win a time trial and a road race world title in the same year.

He became the only rider, along with Miguel Indurain and Abraham Olano, to win medals in both disciplines at the same world championships, but the Spaniards took great solace in bringing home one rainbow jersey each from Colombia in 1995. By contrast, Van Aert took home two silver medals. When asked which defeat was more difficult to accept, he chose the less scarred one.

"In a 35-minute time trial, you can think about the details, but a difference of almost 30 seconds is too big. After a few hours, it was easy to accept that Ganna was stronger," Van Aert said. In a long race like this, it should be easy to accept that Julien was stronger, but right after the race, you think about all the different race situations that could have happened if you had done what you did. It's such a long race, and the difference between the winner and the winner is not great. ......"

"On the other hand, I lost both races to stronger competitors than myself. I didn't make any big mistakes and I have nothing to regret."

Van Aert was making his road world championship debut, but the leadership of the Belgian team led by Rick Verbrugghe was absolute, and Tiesj Benoot and Greg Van Avermaat were the riders entrusted to take the wheel for him. On the final lap, Van Avermaat followed Vincenzo Nibali's move on the Mazzolano climb.

"Nibali is a very strong rider, so it was important to follow him when he tried, but at that point I was still on the defensive," Van Aat said.

"It was important not to miss the attack, but I knew I had to save something for the final climb.

It proved to be the case. Alaphilippe led the race as the gradient reached double digits, and unlike the second half of the Tour, this time he had the strength to maintain it all the way to the summit. At the summit, he was eight seconds ahead of the chase group of Van Aert, Primoz Roglic (Slovenia), Jakub Fuglsang (Denmark), Marc Hirschi (Switzerland), and Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland), but the gap grew inexorably on the plateau and descent that followed.

"When Julien went, I couldn't keep up," Van Aat admitted, but there was no fault in the cooperation of the chasing group. Five strong riders worked together, but Julien was the strongest rider in the race.

"I just gave it my all, five strong riders worked together but Julien was the strongest rider in the race. It was normal to start thinking about the other medals in the last 2km, but until then he did really well. I think at the top of the climb we should have all been on wheels, but it was impossible. I have no regrets.

In Van Aert's native Belgium, attention was drawn to the fact that Roglic, a fellow Jumbo Visma rider, had spared the lead of the chase group in the last few kilometers, and Eddy Plunkert was particularly upset in Sporza's studio. Said Plankaert, "If I were Van Aert, I wouldn't run another meter at the front for Roglic."

But Van Aert countered softly. 'I understand your question about Primoz, but he did everything he could. 'Of course I told him. I think he was at his limit, he had five strong riders with him and he didn't get a second back until the last two kilometers. It was just the stronger riders that came to the front."

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