His main rival in cyclo-cross and road racing, Wout van Aert, is a Belgian cyclist who rides for Jumbo–Visma. He has also won the Cyclo-cross World Championships four times and several road races, such as the Tour of Flanders, Milan–San Remo, and Paris–Roubaix.
His future teammate at BKCP–Powerplus, Niels Albert, is a former Belgian cyclo-cross rider who won the Cyclo-cross World Championships twice and several other races. He retired in 2014 due to a heart condition.
His former rival in cyclo-cross, Philipp Walsleben, is a German cyclist who rides for Alpecin–Fenix. He was the 2009 UEC European Cyclo-cross Champion and the 2014 German National Cyclo-cross Champion.
His former rival in cyclo-cross, Rob Peeters, is a Belgian cyclist who retired in 2018. He was the 2012 Belgian National Cyclo-cross Champion and the runner-up at the 2012 Cyclo-cross World Championships.
His former rival in junior road racing, Mads Pedersen, is a Danish cyclist who rides for Trek–Segafredo. He was the 2019 UCI Road World Champion and the 2020 Danish National Road Race Champion.