I think this goes back to the Olympics, when van Aert actually was the best rider, but lost the race to Carapaz because he needed to close every move by himself, nobody was working with him, and he didn't have teammates in the final anymore. No matter how strong he is, he simply cannot do it all himself.
So, I think it wasn't a good idea from van Aert to publically claim leadership before this year's worlds, but it can be understood from that background. He must have felt super strong after his Tour wins and his Olympics and I thought he was over-strong, too, and I wasn't the only one - we can now say "how could he claim he should be the sole leader", but although I don't think it was the best strategy, it was far from absurd. A very strong, versatile one-day racer who has an incredible sprint, in short, one of the two or three riders in the world with probably the best profile for this course, looking to be in the prime and form of his life, well... yes, there's this other super-strong guy, but we all agree that he doesn't have the perfect profile for this route, and while he has worked for others before, at least van Aert (and some others) is convinced that Evenepoel didn't do everything for him in the Olympics but instead for his own reputation, although he didn't have a chance to win himself. (I didn't see it that way at the time, I thought Evenepoel simply overestimated himself and had a wrong strategy, but what if it's true, and Evenepoel didn't ride for van Aert that day but for himself, without having a chance...?)
So, within the team it is agreed that Evenepoel is selected, but only if now he sticks to the plan and works for van Aert. Evenepoel, despite this, pretends he hasn't understood the strategy and gives it one last try, he asks the coach in private if there is really no chance to go for his own chance, if it arises. The coach says no. Evenepoel is angry - because it isn't the best strategy and because Evenepoel likes his own glory. Then in the race he races so that he doesn't openly go against the team orders - but so that it doesn't help the team much either, in second thought, which Evenepoel doesn't care much about, because he mostly cares about himself (yes, like van Aert, you might say).
Van Aert has immense pressure on that day. But unfortunately after an already hard race, when the first real attack starts, he recognizes he doesn't have good legs on the day. But can he now, after claiming leadership, after his team already having worked hard for him just say "sorry, don't have the legs today?" He hopes it will get better. He still hopes for and expects a sprint and he thinks he can still win the sprint, because he's simply the best sprinter from the riders who are left. So only when it gets clear he really doesn't have the legs and the attacks continue, he tells it to his team, but that's really late. Stuyven could have been saved more had he told it earlier.
Van Aert plays no role in the final.
Then after the race he hears Evenepoel stating that he, Remco, had the legs to win the worlds, and that yes, the strategy of the team wasn't good.
Van Aert thinks something like "I knew he'd be backstabbing me, he agreed to support me, but he didn't do everything he could to do that again, and after I failed he doesn't support me in public, but instead insinuates he should have gotten the freedom to go for the win."
That's the way I see it now. Did van Aert behave perfectly? Certainly not. Is his behaviour understandable and at least not worse than Evenepoels? To me, absolutely.
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