Wout van Aert the most popular rider of 2022 - "This award is a sign of great recognition"

For the 2nd year running, Jumbo-Visma superstar, Wout van Aert has been voted by the fans of ProCyclingStats as their favourite cyclist of all time, edging out Peter Sagan in a tight battle.

With a total of 7,582 lists being submitted by the visitors of the site, the difference between van Aert and Sagan ended up being as close as only 50 votes. "This award is a sign of great recognition," the Belgian says. "There's lots of elections on who is the best rider of all time, but this is something else. This award is not only about performing at the highest level, but this is also about inspiring people and being able to do that is something I am very proud of."

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Wout van Aert: "The fourth victory in this Christmas period, that's insane"

Having enjoyed another scintillating season on the road, including picking up the Green Jersey at the Tour de France whilst simultaneously helping Jonas Vingegaard secure overall victory in Paris. Wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Bretagne Classic also came for van Aert this year among other successes.

More recently, van Aert has taken his talents off-road, impressing during the winter cyclocross period with a number of victories including at the UCI World Cup event in Dublin and most recent of all, at the Exact Cross in Loenhout.

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Pogacar would have won the Tour if not for "Superman" Wout van Aert according to former UAE staff member Aart Vierhouten

When asked who would top his own list of his favourite riders, this was van Aert's reply. "Tadej Pogačar! Pogačar is someone I would definitely vote for because of is appearance and his attractive way of racing. I really like that."

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"I don't know which planet I have to come from to get close to Wout van Aert" - Sam Bennett keen on being Belgian's biggest rival for green at Tour de France