Having initially prioritised competing in cyclo-cross, Van Aert terminated his contract with Vérandas Willems–Crelan in 2018 and joined Team Jumbo–Visma[4] in March 2019, on a three-year deal.

Following the 2022 Tour de France, where Van Aert won three stages, several media outlets labeled him as "one of the most complete cyclists of his generation".

[13] Over a two-year period with Vérandas Willems–Crelan in 2017 and 2018, he took five victories, and also won a bronze medal at the 2018 European Road Cycling Championships in Glasgow, losing out to Matteo Trentin and Mathieu van der Poel in a sprint finish from a small group.

[16] On 15 July, Van Aert won Stage 10 from Saint-Flour to Albi, in a sprint finish ahead of Elia Viviani and Caleb Ewan.

Van Aert later told newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that the crash was so severe that it could have ended his career, worsened by a mistake during his surgery, when doctors did not properly work on one of his tendons.

On 1 August, Van Aert won the first rescheduled UCI World Tour race to be held following the COVID-19 pandemic, Strade Bianche after attacking solo with around 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) remaining.

[31] He then rode Tirreno–Adriatico with overall aspirations, winning the opening stage in a bunch sprint ahead of elite sprinters like Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani.

[36] On 18 April Van Aert won the Amstel Gold Race after a two-up sprint with Tom Pidcock, which was ultimately decided by a photo finish.

[37] On 7 July Van Aert won Stage 11 of the Tour de France by attacking on the last climb of Mont Ventoux, over 32 kilometres (20 miles) from the finish.

[41] After the race, Van Aert said that his results were "priceless",[42] as he became the first rider to win a mountain stage, an individual time trial and a bunch sprint in the same Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1979.

[43] In the Olympic road race he finished 1 minute, 7 seconds behind winner Richard Carapaz but won the sprint in the chasing group, earning the silver medal.

Stage 4 was expected to be another bunch sprint finish, but with 10 kilometres to go Team Jumbo–Visma orchestrated an attack up the final climb of the day, the 900-metre (3,000-foot) ascent up Cote du Cap Blanc-Nez.

[66] Following the Tour de France, Van Aert was outsprinted by Marco Haller in his next start, at the Hamburg Cyclassics,[67] before he won the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France in a sprint from approximately twenty riders.

[71] He ultimately finished the race just off the podium in fourth place, setting the pace prior to the successful solo move by his compatriot, Remco Evenepoel.

[76] After commencing his 2023 road season at Tirreno–Adriatico,[77] Van Aert took five consecutive podium finishes in one-day UCI World Tour races.

[78] He then won in Harelbeke for the second year in succession with victory in the E3 Saxo Classic, beating Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar, despite his rivals' best attempts to distance him.

[82] He claimed a silver medal at the 2023 UCI Road race World Championships in Glasgow, losing out to Mathieu van der Poel, but finishing ahead of the rest of the second group consisting of Tadej Pogačar and Mads Pedersen (cyclist).

[84] Van Aert suffered a high-speed crash around 70 km from the finish line of Dwars Door Vlaanderen, fracturing his collarbone and several ribs.

[90] Van Aert also took the polka-dot jersey from Adam Yates after stage 13,[91] taking maximum points in the King of the Mountains classification from the breakaway.