"He doesn’t always get the credit he deserves," say fellow riders after van Aert's latest Grand Tour masterpiece

Van Aert had already been in the breakaway several times in the second and third weeks, and when Yates completely turned the GC upside down on day 20, the Belgian was, of course, there to play a decisive role. Just as he had done twice before for Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France and now for Yates. Van Aert managed to get over the brutal Colle delle Finestre from the breakaway ahead of the GC contenders, allowing him to do the challenging work in the final.

Visma | Lease a Bike thus beat pink jersey wearer Isaac del Toro and his closest rival Richard Carapaz, confirming that Van Aert is back. He returned from a low point after his crashes in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Vuelta a España in 2024 but found his best legs when it mattered. "What he did on Saturday is something a rider of his stature might do once in his career, and he does it so often," said Taco van der Hoorn ecstatically.

The Dutch rider from Intermarché-Wanty is one of Van Aert's peers: tall, heavy, a classics specialist, and therefore not really a mountain domestique. "But this isn't really new or surprising. It's incredibly impressive, but everyone knows how strong he is. He has been for years and always will be. Van Aert is a super strong and fantastic rider who has sometimes been treated unfairly by the press during his less successful moments. Now you can see what a difference he makes, but he doesn’t always get the credit he deserves."

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Dylan van Baarle may be a bit lighter than Van Aert, but as a teammate and fellow classics rider, he is also amazed by the performances that Wout van Aert keeps pulling out of his legs. "I don't think many riders like him can do what he does. He's always there for his lead rider at the important moments in a Grand Tour while winning stages and sprinting himself. As a teammate, he's invaluable."

This was echoed by Daan Hoole, who saw a similar rider in Mads Pedersen at Lidl-Trek, but it was van Aert's climb up the Finestre that really stood out. "If you can get that far up that climb with that height and weight, you really have to be extremely powerful. So that's very impressive, especially after such a long stage. You burn a lot more throughout the day because of your weight and must pedal harder. To put in such an effort is unbelievable, really very strong."

Van Aert had already said earlier in the Giro that he had burned more than 7,000 calories in a single day. Hoole says that's not unusual for the heavier and bigger guys in the peloton. "I haven't been below 6,500 calories in the last few days either. These are all tough days, so you must eat as much as possible. I'm probably the heaviest rider in this Giro, so for me, it was about surviving and getting through those days as best I could."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])