Van Aert has a reputation as an underdog, he has had the misfortune of being in the same era as
Tadej Pogacar and
Mathieu van der Poel, but the reality is that he is one of the best riders of his generation: "He is a true champion. If you look at his consistency? A lot of people say that his season has been weak, but for me it's impressive. It's true that he hasn't won any classics, but he's always in the top five."
Finally, he compared him to the other great cyclists of the moment, including 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen in the conversation: "I would say he's probably the third best cyclist in the world, only behind Pogacar and Van der Poel. He's in the same league as Pedersen. I'm amused by some of the criticism. Just look at all he sacrifices, the effort he's made to recover from injury. That guy is elite, no doubt about it."