"He must win the Ronde and Roubaix at least once and become world champion" - José De Cauwer has big expectations of Wout van Aert

With the cyclocross World Championship growing ever closer, thoughts are already beginning to turn towards how Wout van Aert will perform back on the roads this year.

According to José De Cauwer, Wout van Aert still has work to do in order to be considered as a great of the sport. "If you look at which races Tom Boonen has won, Wout van Aert still has a lot to do," he explains to Sporza. "He must win the Ronde and Roubaix at least once and become world champion."

Although the 28-year-old Belgian already has a palmares that would rival or better the majority of his contemporaries in the peloton. A winner at races such as Milan-Sanremo, Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, van Aert also starred at the 2022 Tour de France picking up the green jersey and helping Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard into yellow.

"He is still very young, but the 30 is also coming," De Cauwer muses. "There are always competitors and a lot can happen. Just think about his illness last year. Now is the time."