'Belgians love underdogs' – Wout van Aert's enduring popularity has its roots in cyclo-cross, but it's got much bigger since then, writes Thomas De Gendt

You'd be hard pushed to find somebody who has anything bad to say about Wout van Aert, and that includes me.

For one thing, he'd always have the time to ask how you were doing and discuss the previous races. But I won't ever forget, either, when he once had to use an altitude tent in Spain and he texted me to say he'd heard I had one in my house in Calpe. He offered to pay for using my tent and generator, I told him that wasn't necessary and just to drop them back there from his hotel at my house and put the keys inside because I was going away.

When I came back to Spain two months later, not only the tent was back there in the house, on the table there was a bottle of champagne and a nice thank you note for lending it. He didn't have to do that, and we never really talked about it afterwards, but he's just like that: friendly.

I'm far from alone in Belgium thinking that about Wout. Back when he was 18 or 19, he got off to exactly the right start for Belgian cycling fans by doing cyclo-cross, which is huge here. He was one of the few that could challenge Sven Nys, who was winning almost everything at the time, and then afterwards it was just Wout and Mathieu van der Poel that really starred in cyclo-cross.

Thomas De Gendt

Thomas De Gendt is a retired professional cyclist from Belgium. During his nearly 20-year career, he won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, becoming known for his climbing exploits. Now, he races gravel, and writes a regular column for Cyclingnews.

If you're a Belgian fan and you see it's Mathieu versus Wout battling it out twice a week in cyclo-cross then they quickly become very popular as a matter of course.Then, when he announced he was going to have a road career, it naturally sparked people's curiosity as to how a cyclo-cross rider would handle going against the best pros on the road.

When he did begin with Vérandas Willems-Crelan in 2018, he did so well in Strade Bianche, getting third even with the cramps on the climb to Siena. Plus in cyclo-cross, as it's so accessible to the public, he took his time with the fans and he loved being around them as well. When you are a bit of a Mr Simpático like that, you become very popular.

He's also a contradiction, which adds to the interest. When you look at his body type, you'd think he'd be only there for the Classics and maybe the sprints, winning the first one, I think around 2019. But then 'Van Aert the time triallist' also came to the fore in that period, and you could see that was because he has a really big engine. The main thing was that he's good at a lot of things, and if he aims for something and he puts his mind to it, then he can win almost anything.

It reached a point in Belgium where they were even thinking that he could be a top 10 finisher in a Grand Tour, and that was due to that Tour de France where he was the only one with Jonas Vingegaard and dropped Pogačar on the Hautacam. So that immediately kicked off no end of speculation that he could be a top 10 or even a top five in the Tour de France if he lost two or three kilos. But in any case, the most important lesson is: he's very versatile, to say the least.

'When he does win, it's always a special one'

It also helps in a way that he doesn't win that much, because he has had a lot of bad luck in the last three or four years, but when he does win. it's always a special one.

In the 2025 Tour, for example, he was the only one who could drop Pogačar even if it was on a climb just for one kilometre on the final stage in Paris. And then the same happened even more when he beat Pogačar this year at Paris-Roubaix. For a lot of cycling fans that was a really emotional moment, because Wout had been so close to winning a Monument like Flanders and Roubaix, so often – previously, they thought he'd win four or each, they were kind of 'his'. But then Mathieu took a lot of the wins, and Pogačar a whole lot more, so nobody could begrudge Wout that victory this April.

In his case, he's a bit of an underdog now because you always have the feeling that with guys like Van der Poel, Wout's not the best. Whether it's a Monument or a time trial, he's up there, he's amongst the best four, but almost never the top guy. Us Belgians, we love underdogs, especially when a guy like Wout says he wants to win and he'll do his best.

It's the complete opposite of Remco. Remco says 'I'm going to win', and then if he doesn't, some people are very happy that he didn't make it. Which is a shame, because there are always 'buts' with Remco – along the lines of 'Yeah, he got second overall in the Tour and won two stages, but Vingegaard crashed out, but UAE got sick', stuff like that. In fact I think Remco would have beaten Vingegaard this year, certainly in the TT and maybe in the mountains in the third week, so it's a shame to downplay his results like that.

In any case, when it comes to Wout, he has so much bad luck, people always like to see him win at least one big thing again. Like when he was really going for the mountains jersey in the Vuelta a few years back – everybody would like to have seen that and he already had three stage wins. But then he crashed out and was badly injured when he was in the form of his life and would have gone to the Worlds as one of the leaders.

Again, though, he fought back and so then when he wins something big, that makes his career so much better. It's nice to see him win three stages and the overall of the Tour of Denmark, but to be honest, nobody really cares. People are pleased he's in good shape, but with the palmarès he's got, it doesn't matter.

The Vuelta and Worlds

As for this month, though, I know he's going to the Vuelta not just to compete or get better for the World Championships, he's also there for a points jersey and/or stage wins. He'll really want at least one stage win, but then he'll go for the second and third. And looking at the riders that are currently on the start list, he's going to be one of the best sprinters.

It's important to note that with Van Aert's status inside Visma, he only needs to be a domestique for Vingegaard and not for anybody else. He can put his foot down and say 'I'll only ride for myself, and help the team if I have to'. But he will not sacrifice a stage win for anybody else if it's not Vingegaard. The same goes for the Vuelta, if Vingegaard was there, he'd have a good chance of winning, but with Pogačar there, everybody on GC is playing a secondary role, anyhow.

There will be a different kind of scenario at the World Championships, where I'm sure Remco and Wout will complement each other just fine. Remco, as I understand it, has the freedom to do the race just as he wants to. If he wants to attack, he will attack. If he wants to be aggressive, he will be aggressive. Wout is there to try and follow. But in any case, when Pogačar goes, it's all cards on the table, it doesn't matter what your plan is - everybody has a plan until Pogačar goes.

As for Wout, I don't think he could have done much very differently in his career, it's hard to criticise him. His palmarès would be way better if not for those crashes, perhaps he could maybe try to stay up on his bike a bit better, but it's usually due to bad luck more than anything, which he seems to attract. At the same time when you're racing for the win, you're also in the position in the peloton where the stress is at the highest and that's where and when they crash. And usually when he falls, it's a bad one and he breaks something, so that's a bit of a shame. I just wish him all the best and that he stays upright a bit better in the future.

He always fights back, though, or at least he always tries to come back in the best position possible. At some point it might be the end, but hopefully he doesn't crash that hard, and he just gets a good end to his career. He's 31 so he's got a good four or five years in him and without crashes, he could even make it six or seven. But it has to be without crashes. I think he's only one bad crash away from stopping.

Whenever it happens, we'll miss him when he goes, and not just for the results. He's very frank and very grateful for all the help that he gets, he always congratulates you on your races if you win and so on. You always get some friendly conversation with him. That's something everybody appreciates, and everybody will miss.

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.