Tom Boonen impressed by Wout Van Aert's performance - "He is a very tough rider, but the fact that he also gets a task or has a plan every day makes it even more special"

Wout van Aert is one of the most influential riders in the Tour de France this year. Tom Boonen, who retired in 2017 and now works as an analyst for Het Laatste Nieuws is impressed by the Belgian’s performance.

"In my time, it was counting and calculating. Measuring and estimating how much energy you could use. That typical aspect of a big tour seems to have disappeared completely today,” said Boonen. He continues, “ Wout van Aert rides every day as if it were a one-day race. He doesn't seem to be thinking about what's next. Very punishing. We shouldn't forget how exceptional it is."

Van Aert secured the second position in the ITT stage of the tour. He went to win two stages and finished second in four stages ." Van Aert can time trial, sprint and can go uphill. He is a very tough rider, but the fact that he also gets a task or has a plan every day makes it even more special,” said Boonen.

Boonen questions the consequence of pushing the body to its limit "Then you would think that you are overexploiting your body, but is that true. I can't say if this is healthy. We will see in the weeks and months after the Tour to what extent these efforts will affect us. Saving energy was always the key to success, but he doesn't do that,”  said Boonen.

He shares his tour experience and compares how it has changed over time. "I've also had Tours that I was good at. It happened once that I knew in the last week that it was okay to waste some energy, but never like this. Those guys don't seem to be afraid of anything. Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? They don't look at that. Really, I've never seen this before. I don't know how far back I have to go. I'm honest, I don't really understand it, but I do love watching it," concludes Boonen.