"Everyone in the peloton should already know that you should not allow Evenepoel freedom" - Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel have in the past clashed, however at the time being all is good between the two Belgian supertalents, and in a recent interview van Aert has backed the World Champion into Belgian of the year, besides extensively talking about his compatriot.

“I choose Remco Evenepoel, for how he won the Vuelta a Espana and then became World champion. And especially how he handles the pressure, since he became a professional cyclist at a very young age. I feel like he is attracting commotion," van Aert said in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. "And then this (the World Championships, ed.). He does it anyway. He surprised me in the Vuelta. Of course I know how talented he is. Still, I had the feeling that things always go wrong for him in a stage-race, for one reason or another. I think it's a punishment that he continued to race at such a high level in the Vuelta a Espana for three weeks.”

With the 2021 Worlds taking place in Leuven, both were argued as big favourites, and the media pressure has seen all teams jump the home team, who was unable to grab a medal - with Jasper Stuyven being the best placed, in fourth. This season however all was different, as Evenepoel manage to sneak in a large group that escaped the peloton early on in the race's finale, and in his classic style, soloed away to victory.

“Remco Evenepoel has made great strides forward in 2022. On the one hand you can say: 'Now it will be even more difficult.' He has won a Grand Tour, he is world champion. On the other hand, he already had so much pressure on him that this will not change much for a rider like Evenepoel," van Aert continued. "I don't expect him to have a problem with that. Because he has taken the right path.”

The Worlds course favoured the classics riders and sprinters. Whilst a reduced peloton battled between the medals, little could be done about the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team. Evenepoel had not only just won the Vuelta, but has won also the Clasica San Sebastián and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Besides those, he has taken countless solo wins in past years.

“That's why I thought it was strange how the World Championships raced," van Aert commented. "He has been given complete freedom, his wheel has not been raced. While everyone in the peloton should already know that you should not allow Evenepoel freedom.”

"I didn't give him much chance that it would work out," the Jumbo-Visma rider added, sharing that he had seen fatigue in Evenepoel upon his arrival to Australia. "Apparently by the day the road race came around he was fully recovered. Was I surprised? Not really. After the Clásica San Sebastian and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he had already amply proven to me that he can really be the best in one day.”