Wout Van Aert may have settled for fourth place in a race he had been targeting since the Tour de France, but he was still visibly pleased after his Belgian teammate Remco Evenpoel won gold at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships.

After Evenpoel attacked in the 266km elite men's race, Van Aat told Sporza that he played a defensive game in the main group, putting pressure on all his rivals.

But the tactic worked, and Van Aert, who was the first to congratulate Evenpoel after the finish, blamed the lack of race radio in the road world championships, calling its ban "outdated."

Like the rest of the Belgian team, however, Van Aert was pleased with the development of the top contenders and said, "I am happy to have played my part. I think we can continue to produce great results at this rate."

Van Aat's team was also banned from the competition.

Van Aert described himself as "nervous" before the start, telling Eurosport that after this year's Tour de France, the world championships were a major goal. And after last year, when the Belgian team was heavily criticized for tactical blunders, the pressure was even higher this time around.

But the Belgian contingent rose to the challenge as one, Van Aert told Sporza. Meanwhile, Van Aert policed the peloton from behind.

"We had a great race. You can decide your tactics in advance, but if it goes as well as you expect, that's great," Van Aert said.

"When Lemko and that group got away, it was very dangerous for the other competitors. For me, too."

"Lemko was holding the lead, so when the alarm bell rang, I knew he had had a super day."

However, VanArt was not too happy about the race radio being banned, saying that the main peloton only knew for sure that Evenpoel was leading alone at the start of the last lap. Besides, he echoed the comments of his trade teammate and silver medalist Christophe Laporte about the lack of race information due to the lack of radio.

"The lack of radio is drama," he said. 'Apparently I crossed the finish line in fourth place, but I didn't know if I was sprinting for tenth, fifteenth, or second. It's a shame, because I had a leg to be on the podium with Lemko."

Van Aert also raised eyebrows about his late counter attack on Mount Pleasant because Evenpole had already cleared it, but this was because he did not know what was happening on the climb and his move was part of the Belgian race plan He explained that he did not know what was happening on the climb and that his move was part of Belgium's race plan.

"We had discussed beforehand that if Lemko was in front in a big group, I would have the freedom to ride the last two rounds behind him. If I were to lead, it would make the situation even stronger."

"I think a lot of the riders made a course around me, which allowed Lemko to get some extra space. I'm happy to have played that role. I think we can continue to do great things like this."