Van der Poel above Boonen, and retired within five years? Van Aert gives his view

Van Aert has been a professional cyclocross rider since 2014, and from 2017 onward he was also officially a pro on the road with Vérandas Willems-Crelan. Since 2019 he has raced for Visma | Lease a Bike, then still known as Jumbo-Visma, and he has long been tied closely to the Dutch team. As for when the 31-year-old from Herentals will call time on his career, that remains uncertain, although Van Aert himself knows that the end is gradually drawing closer.

Bakelants put a series of questions to his friend in a Sporza video posted on Instagram. One of them focused on Van Aert’s future: would he already be a former rider in five years’ time? Van Aert needed a moment to think before answering. “The chance is greater that I will be than that I won’t,” he said.

He was also asked about his cyclocross future. During his glittering career, Van Aert has won three elite world titles, although his most recent rainbow jersey dates back to 2018. Can he become world champion again in the years ahead? “I hope so,” he first replied, somewhat cautiously. But when asked to give a more definitive answer, he was firm: “Yes.”

Across the Classics, Van Aert has raced against some of the biggest names of his era. Van der Poel, Pogačar, Evenepoel: this is elite company by any standard. Bakelants asked him whether Tom Boonen was a greater champion than Van der Poel, and the Belgian answered with complete honesty: “Sorry Tom, but for me Mathieu is above him.”

Boonen could laugh about it himself on the Dutch-language Wielerclub Wattage podcast from VRT. “Wout has of course suffered more behind Mathieu than behind me,” he said. “I did a few races and training sessions with Wout in the past, but back then he was only just coming through and he was still a cyclocross rider. In the Heistse Pijl, for example, Wout came along twice, in 2013 and 2014. I won twice. There you go.”