Owain Doull recounts Paris-Roubaix victory ahead of Van Aert's return to racing on Sunday

We have not seen Wout van Aert in action on the road since his magnificent victory in Paris-Roubaix. That changes on Sunday, when the Visma rider lines up for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. In the build-up to that race, Van Aert received plenty of praise from team-mate Owain Doull, who also reflected on that Roubaix win.

Doull is now 33, but made the move to Visma | Lease a Bike last summer after four years at EF. “That is certainly a change, but so far it’s been mega. I really love it,” he recently said on the Watts Occurring podcast.

At his new team, he has been working alongside major leaders such as Jonas Vingegaard, which was quite different from what he had been used to at EF. How has the Dane struck him in his first months at Visma | Lease a Bike? “A top guy,” he said bluntly. Vingegaard, of course, is not the only big name at the Dutch team.

He has also come into contact with Van Aert. What does Doull make of the Belgian? “The best person in the world. I already told him after he won Roubaix that I think I had never been so happy that someone I knew so briefly had won such a huge race. He is really everything you want from a leader.”

The Welshman explains. “He is humble, kind, brings everyone in, and really appreciates what the whole team does for him. He also has an enormous work ethic. He just never gives up... a perfect leader, really,” he said, full of praise for Van Aert. Doull was there when he won Paris-Roubaix.

He remembers it very clearly. “My race was pretty much over quite early. I was just doing what the team wanted me to do. I came through the Carrefour (de l’Arbre, ed.). It was quiet and everyone was looking at a screen.” Until... “Out of nowhere I hear loads of noise. Everyone goes crazy.”

At that point, Doull still knew very little about what had happened. “I thought: either a Frenchman had won, or Wout. I had no idea what was going on. I did think: if Pogačar or Van der Poel had won, the reaction from all these neutral people on the cobbles would not have been the same. People really went wild. All I could hear was: ‘Wout, Wout, Wout!’ I was absolutely cheering and giving people high fives.”