Simon Yates described Wout van Aert as the 'ultimate teammate' after the Belgian helped him blow up the Giro d'Italia and take the maglia rosa in Sestriere. They and the whole Visma-Lease a Bike team will celebrate a somewhat unexpected and even more emotional victory in Rome on Sunday.
Van Aert is one of the most talented riders in the peloton, able to do almost everything, including playing a vital team role on any terrain.
He has gradually rebuilt his form during the Gro after his disappointing Spring Classics campaign. He won the gravel stage to Siena and was also second to Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) on stage 1 to Tirana and stage 13 to Vicenza. In the final week of the Giro, Van Aert joined the attacks three times, either to try and win for himself or be there for Yates.
He was a superb 'GC Van Aert' on Saturday, just as he has been for teammate Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France in recent years.
Van Aert jumped across to the break of the day, perhaps surprising UAE Team Emirates-XRG who did not opt for a similar tactic. He then produced a huge effort to stay clear of the GC riders over the Colle delle Finestre to be there for Yates after he attacked on the climb.
They joined forces for the descent and valley road to Sestriere, Van Aert's long turn on the front helping Yates gain almost five minutes on Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) as they squabbled, sat up and threw away their chances of overall victory.
“Wout, you are the game changer!” Visma-Lease a Bike directeur sportif Marc Reef shouted to him as Van Aert came to a virtual stop after his huge effort.
"It's not the first time that he shows himself to be one of the best teammates in the world, and at the same time a huge champion. I am incredibly grateful to him and the rest of the team," Yates said, after Van Aert and other teammates stopped in the podium area to hug him and celebrate executing the perfect race strategy.
Van Aert eventually rode into Sestriere with a huge smile on his face.
"It's incredible," Van Aert said at the finish, as happy and proud as if he had won himself.
"When I was in the breakaway and we got a lot of time on the peloton, I knew I had a small chance of surviving the Finestre. I played a role but this is an achievement by the entire team.
"I can’t explain how deep I went to survive that climb. Halfway up I knew I could do it, but it was the hardest moment of the day.
"What a brave effort from Simon to go all in from that far out. I love it when people don't race for a place of honour. 'Chapeau' to him."
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