ANALYSIS | Where does Wout van Aert’s Giro stage win in Siena rank among his greatest career moments?

Wout van Aert’s palmarès is already one that most riders would dream of. A monument winner, a Tour de France master, and world champion in cyclocross. And now, after Stage 9 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, you can add another line: a winner of stages at all three grand tours.

It was, on paper, a stage designed for drama: five gravel sectors through Tuscany, finishing in the historic Piazza del Campo, echoing the finish of Strade Bianche. But what unfolded was something even more chaotic than expected, a day of crashes, punctures, and disarray that upended the general classification and showed just how far van Aert has come since that same finish line nearly broke him.

Seven years earlier, in 2018, a then-unknown van Aert had announced himself at Strade Bianche with a battling ride, that was a sign of things to come. He cramped in the final metres, staggered to the line, and collapsed, showing just how hard he had pushed himself. Fast forward to 2025, and van Aert returned to that exact location, in far more control, to deliver one of the most meaningful wins of his career.

But just where does this stage victory rank among his greatest? Let’s take a closer look at some of the Belgian’s highlights so far…

But first, lets start with Sunday.

What made Sunday’s victory so special wasn’t just the route or the backdrop, it was the context. Van Aert had started the Giro under a cloud, and he was being hounded in the Belgian press after a winless spring. His luck wasn’t showing any signs of improving either, as illness in the early stages led to speculation he might abandon the race entirely, perhaps to save his Tour de France ambitions.

Stage 9 would prove his doubters wrong. No, Van Aert is by no means done yet.

Caught in a breakaway that featured GC contender Isaac Del Toro and former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal, van Aert bided his time. Del Toro did most of the work, riding on the front for 20km, while van Aert sat on and delivered the winning move in the final few hundred metres. The emotional reaction after the line told its own story.

It wasn’t just a stage win, it could prove to be a turning point. Maybe now, for the remainder of the Giro, we will see Van Aert back to his usual best.

If Sunday was about redemption, then the 2022 Tour de France was van Aert at his very best.

That year, van Aert wore the green jersey all the way to Paris, won three stages, and played an integral role in helping Jonas Vingegaard secure overall victory over Tadej Pogacar. His solo win on Stage 4 in Calais, attacking on a climb and holding off the field, was pure theatre, as Van Aert gave the yellow jersey it’s wings.

It was, arguably, the most complete Tour de France ever ridden by a support rider (although, Van Aert is certainly not your stereotypical support rider) and perhaps by anyone not winning the yellow jersey.

Before 2022, it was the 2021 Tour that announced van Aert’s otherworldly adaptability. In the space of a few days, he won a mountain stage over Mont Ventoux, a time trial, and the final sprint on the Champs-Élysées. What!?

That feat alone, three completely different types of stage wins in one Tour, placed him in elite company. It was the kind of versatility rarely seen in the modern era, and a direct challenge to traditional ideas of what a Classics specialist can do.

Think of the riders he had to beat for stage wins that year. They ranged all the way from Pogacar on the climbs to Mark Cavendish, arguably the greatest ever sprinter, on the Champs-Elysees.

It would be easy to forget that before all the road racing accolades, van Aert was a pure cyclocross sensation. His first elite World Championship title in 2016, won in Heusden-Zolder, was the spark.

That win didn’t just confirm van Aert’s status as the heir to Sven Nys, it established him as a big-stage performer. He would go on to win two more elite titles and countless World Cup races, and although Mathieu van der Poel has since surged clear in cyclocross, Van Aert’s first world title in 2016 is still one of his most special moments.

So where does Siena 2025 rank?

The beauty of Wout van Aert’s career is that it resists simple categorisation. He is a world-class cyclocross rider, a dominant Classics contender, a Tour de France stage hunter, and, increasingly, a rider who finds meaning in moments beyond statistics.

The likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar are unique in their own way. But have we ever seen a rider who can truly excel in both sprints and mountains like Van Aert?

Siena stands out not just for what he won, but for what he overcame. Illness. Doubt. A sense that the Giro might pass him by. Instead, he turned the most chaotic stage of the race into a glory, in the exact city where his road career first took flight.

It may not be the most high-profile win of his career. It wasn’t a Monument or a World Championship. But in terms of emotion, and timing, Stage 9 of the 2025 Giro might just be Wout’s most important win.