VAN AERT. Impressive during this Tour de France 2022, Wout van Aert is comfortable on the flat, in sprints and in the mountains… Can he play general in the years to come?
Even if Jonas Vingegaard will win the Tour de France 2022, Wout van Aaert is undoubtedly the rider of this 109th edition. Impressive on all stages, in the sprint, on the time trial, in the mountains, on the cobblestones… The Belgian is probably the most complete runner in the world and could play the leading roles in the years to come.
Thursday July 21 during the 18th stage of the Tour de France to Hautacam, it was the wearer of the green jersey himself who cracked Tadej Pogacar and put his leader into orbit. But to play the leading roles in the years to come, the Belgian champion will have to lose weight. “He should try to lose weight,” warns Grischa Niermann, his sports director in comments reported by L’Equipe. The most comfortable riders in the mountains of this Tour go below the 65 mark when Van Aert is at 78. “He is almost 20 kg heavier than Jonas (Vingegaard), adds Niermann, that’s a lot of extra watts to be developed uphill.” For the moment, the main interested party does not make it an objective. “If I focused on the general […] it would be possible to maybe make a place in the top 10, or even not. But that’s not my goal now, that’s not what I like. “
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Biography Wout Van Aert. Wout Van Aert was born on September 15, 1994 in Herentals, Belgium. Before becoming one of the best road racers, he distinguished himself mainly in cyclo-cross until 2019 when he joined the Jumbo-Visma team. Today, Wout Van Aert is one of the most formidable riders in the peloton where his versatility is feared by many riders: the Belgian is able to win sprints and mix in the race for the points classification while winning classics likeAmstel Gold Race or Ghent-Wevelgem.
In his career, Wout Van Aert has already beaten the best riders in the peloton like Julian Alaphilippe, Tom Dumoulin, Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan. Often compared to Tom Boonen, Wout Van Aert will surely never equal his compatriot in the number of successes but he has already done as well as “Tornado Tom”.
What is Wout Van Aert’s track record?
Triple cyclo-cross world champion, five-time Belgian cyclo-cross champion, three times winner of the general classification of the cyclo-cross World Cup, Wout Van Aert’s record is already full. Not to mention his victories in road cycling: the Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in 2020, Belgian road champion, Ghent-Wevelgem, Amstel Gold Race, silver medal in the road race at the Olympics, silver medal of the World Time Trial Championship (behind the Italian Filippo Gana) in 2021.
The rivalry with Mathieu Van Der Poel
Between 2015 and 2020, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel shared the world titles in cyclo-cross before facing each other on the road. Some compare this rivalry with others like Tom Boonen – Fabian Cancellara.
Who is Wout Van Aert’s team?
Since the start of his professional career in 2012, Wout Van Aert has known six teams so far: Telenet-Fidea (2012-03.2014), Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace (03.2014 – 2015), Crelan-Vastgoedservice (2016), Verandas Willems -Crelan (01.2017-09.2018), Cibel-Cebon (10.2018-02.2019) and Jumbo Visma since March 2019 where the Dutchman extended until 2024.
Who is Wout Van Aert’s wife?
On the private side, Wout Van Aert has been married since 2018 to Sarah De Bie. Together, they became parents of Georges on January 4, 2021.