Not only the Flemish newspapers are full of praise for Wout van Aert’s performance in the Tour de France. The foreign media are also wide-eyed.
The Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy)
Jonas Vingegaard won the general classification by a large margin and won two stages; and runner-up Tadej Pogacar did even better with three stages. But according to the Italian Journal Wout van Aert was without a doubt the most defining figure of the Tour. ‘He “served” Vingegaard, won stages and even decided who should win them: the Grande Boucle of the Jumbo-Visma phenomenon was spectacular.’
General Newspaper (The Netherlands)
Wout van Aert won three stages himself, but might have won even more if he had driven less for his team. It General Newspaper calls the role of the Belgian crucial in the Tour victory of Jonas Vingegaard.
‘Without Wout van Aert as a luxury helper, Jonas Vingegaard would not have won the Tour. A statement that may be difficult to prove scientifically, but is it necessary? Van Aert can do anything, his head seems almost even stronger than his body. The Belgian refuses to dwell in disappointments. After finishing second in the opening time trial in Copenhagen, he finished second again the next day, this time in the sprint behind Fabio Jakobsen. But he did take the yellow jersey, as a swab from the bleeding. And then the big van Aert show still had to start. (…) Van Aert and this Tour, that story hardly fits in a book.’
Le Figaro (France)
Can Wout van Aert ever win the Tour? This discussion has been endless with us over the past few weeks. But this question is also raised beyond our national borders, as in the French Le Figaro. The newspaper unequivocally calls Van Aert ‘the most complete rider of the peloton’.
“Sprinter, attacker, puncher. From afar or at the end of a ride. Excellent against the clock and in the mountains unloading Pogacar. And all while loyally serving Vingegaard. Phenomenal. Van Aert proves that he is perhaps the most complete rider of the peloton. A future winner of the Tour? He has certainly shown that he can perform for three weeks without having a bad day.’
The Guardian (Britain)
Across the Channel, they seem to agree wholeheartedly with the French analysis. The British newspaper The Guardian sees van Aert as ‘the most influential rider’ of the last Tour and as the ‘ultimate all-rounder’.
The newspaper even believes that ‘it is difficult to see how Vingegaard could have won the yellow jersey without the support of the Belgian’. “For starters, van Aert saved the Dane’s race in stage 5, the cobblestone stage, with a sustained effort that kept him just close enough to Pogacar. In the Alps, when Vingegaard finally cracked the Slovenian with the help of Roglic, van Aert was particularly prominent in the important stage to the Col du Granon.’
“In the era of super teams, bigger budgets buying more and better team drivers, Jumbo-Visma seems to have surpassed that; welcome to the era of the super teammate.”
The world (Spain)
‘In addition to the figure of Jonas Vingegaard, the great name of the 109th edition of the Grande Boucle was Wout van Aert’, the Spanish newspaper states. The world.
“Wout van Aert has broken all the laws of cycling, even to the point that some of his decisions are controversial.” The world talks about his many early breakaways, where he appeared to be driving for his own benefit, but in hindsight it served the team interest.
‘Leg after stage he continued to do where he felt most comfortable, in the attack, as if his strength never ran out, as if several of Aerts were in the race. The best images of the Tour are of him, from when he gave the jersey to a boy who helped him after a puncture, to then stopped briefly on the Mur de Peguere to wait for his leader.’
Also The world thinks van Aert is a complete rider. ‘He is not a sprinter, nor a time trialist, nor a climber, nor a house sparrow. Maybe he’s all at once, the total cyclist, which we haven’t seen since Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx. Last Tours, Van Aert won in the time trial, in the bunch sprint on the Champs-Elysées and in the high mountains (after the victory on Mont Ventoux last year), where only his weight prevents him from being among the best.’
He is also the best classic rider in the world, he was an Olympic bronze medalist in Fuji and a three-time cyclo-cross world champion. Perhaps there, in the mud, lies the explanation for his competitive spirit, in his ruthless duels with Mathieu Van der Poel.’
