A WORK OF AERT

Wout van Aert truly announced himself as a master of all trades in 2021. CW speaks to the Belgian about his phenomenal year in the saddle

- Vern Pitt

Excuse me,” says a woman’s voice from behind me. “Could you move so I can get a photo?” I’ve been standing idly by the start of stage two of the Tour of Britain observing the best all-round cyclist in the world, Wout van Aert, as he politely waves to the crowd from the sign-in rostrum. Even here on this half-finished Devonian housing estate the Belgian has fans. I duck out of the woman’s shot.

The fact she wants a picture is hardly surprising. In the flesh the Belgian is striking. When I interview van Aert, seasoned photographer Simon Wilkinson is so stunned by the JumboVisma rider’s anime matinee-idol looks he remarks the Belgian could easily be a model. We both wonder if the blond streak in his fringe is natural – you can see it in pictures from his junior racing days – or not but decide it’s best not to ask lest we spoil the magic.

Van Aert’s looks are, somewhat irritatingly, the least of his gifts. His exploits on the bike are what has won him fans everywhere from Flanders to Devonian building sites. Winning on mud, sand, gravel, tarmac, up mountains, in sprints and in time trials has propelled him to the top of the sport.

In Belgium he’s among the biggest names going. “He’s a big cycling star already but he’s a star outside of cycling also,” says Marc Ghyselinck, journalist at Het Laatste Nieuws. “But he doesn’t appear on other pages of the paper. He’s a bike rider before, between and after.”

He says that since his performance at the Tour de France in 2021, when he won three stages, van Aert is now regularly spoken about in the same breath as Eddy Merckx. And with that comes a certain level of popularity.