dont agree, 250km + races, reduced group sprint would be damn close
It depends on how much he's had to work. During last year's WCC the team was able to shelter him very well, and he only had to start working when Alaphilippe attacked. His sprint for 2nd was pretty impressive. He sprinted 20 meters ahead of the rest of that group.Van Aert isn't always very fast after a long or hard race. The Olympics road race is not the only example.
wouldn't be surprised if he gets outsprinted tomorrow even if he's not boxed in. Guys like Pedersen could be dangerous if it comes down to a sprint.
In RVV2020 he was faster than Van der Poel, but he made a tactical error. Pidcock said after Brabantse Pijl that Van Aert probably did too much work in the break. The entire final in Tokyo was not in his advantage. The climb itself was more tailored to Pogacar & co, so Van Aert had to go deeper at that point already. After closing the gap, everybody started attacking him and he had to work harder than the others.
He can definitely be beaten, but i think the biggest questionmark is the finish itself. It's tricky because the final 200m are flat, but before that it's 5% or so.