How was Wout van Aert's 2022? He won three Tour de France stages, a green jersey, Omloop, E3, stages at Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné, as well as helping teammate Jonas Vingegaard win yellow... oh, and Wout finished in the top five of 82 per cent of the one-day races he took part in — BUT, the prodigiously talented Belgian "could have done better"... apparently.
[ASO/Pauline Ballet]
That's according to Tom Boonen who told Wielerflits: "I hear he couldn't have done better this year, but I don't agree with that".
"The only thing missing this year is a Monument, they say. But that matters. A rider of his level is racing to win those races. It's nice that you are called the best rider in the world for months, but that's not the point. Wout has to win classics.
"Ask him. He will also say that that is what he wants. At the same time, I don't want to be too strict. Wout was having a very nice spring and he had the bad luck that he dropped out due to corona at a crucial moment, just before the Tour of Flanders.
"The years are ticking. I am convinced that he will still succeed, but will he win the Ronde three times and Roubaix four times? Champions race for those kinds of records."
Well, there you go. If Wout 'must do better' there's not much hope for the rest of us...