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> Analyst Bobbie Traksel echoed this sentiment: “Van Aert was doing really well until his older son started kindergarten. By then, the whole family could go with him to many alpine camps. When that wasn’t possible anymore, it probably hit him. It’s hard for me to say that. I’ve always been a big fan of family involvement in your career. But once the kids start kindergarten, your schedule has to change.”

> Van Aert’s compatriot, former professional and classics champion Greg Van Avermaet, a father of one, agrees.

> “The kids come home from school or kindergarten, and you’re not going to ignore them at home,” he says. “So you get a little less rest. I’ve experienced that in my career, too. Suddenly you’re in a pinch. Your immunity goes down with age, you have a family at home, but you still want to train as hard as possible. Then you can easily overwork your body.”

> Another analyst Michel Wuyts highlighted in the HLN Wuyts & Vlaeminck podcast: “In training, Van Aert is an extremely meticulous perfectionist. It is possible that this time he overdid it after his illness and we are seeing the consequences.”

> Van Aert’s mental condition may also play a role. In the classics season, dominated by the duo Mathieu van der Poel - Tadej Pogačar, he achieved two second and three fourth places, but he tried in vain to win. When it seemed that he was going for the triumph at the world tour Dwars door Vlaanderen, where his Visma team played a 3-on-1 powerplay in the leading group, he lost in the sprint to the only remaining opponent from other teams, Neilson Powless.