"A race I dream of and am still missing" - Wout van Aert states his major goal for 2027 season and confirms Cyclocross ambitions
Cycling
Wout van Aert is enjoying time with his family after a 2026 season that saw the Visma | Lease a Bike rider hit one of the high points of his career as well as a setback that caused him to miss the Tour de France. Looking ahead, he has some lofty ambitions for 2027.
The Belgian rider won Paris Roubaix in April after several near-misses with the iconic monument, and has his sights sets on another elusive goal going forward.
After the World Championships brought an end to his season, the 32-year-old has been focused on recovery after a busy second part of the season saw him miss the Tour de France due to injury before bouncing back with a successful Vuelta a Espana campaign.
"I am fully recovered mentally, that is the most important thing. For me, it is actually about simple things: mainly spending time with my family, the basics," Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad.
Wout van Aert
Van Aert's Cyclocross plan
Although the road season is officially over, the Flanders native is usually a fixture in the winter Cyclocross season. A multiple time World Cup and World Championships winner, Van Aert confirmed that he intends to return to the high-octane discipline.
He said: "I am really looking forward to it, but I cannot yet say where or when I will start."
Speaking about the 2027 season, Van Aert still has the fire in his belly despite realising his Paris Roubaix destiny. The Tour of Flanders is a race he dreams of and is yet to win.
Read also
"A race I dream of"
"The Tour of Flanders is a race I dream of and am still missing, so I will keep aiming for that.
He added that a rainbow jersey is another major goal as he continues to race at the peak of his powers: "Just like the World Championships. At some point my time will be over, but it is nice to still have those goals. It keeps me fresh."
A Flanders win would be the third monument on the Belgian's pal mares after Roubaix this year and his 2020 Milano Sanremo victory. As well as his classics success, he has won ten Tour de France stages and five Vuelta a Espana wins.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- What are they doing nobody knows.abstractengineer21-10-2026
- Well JV, thats the text book definition of forced🤣🤦abstractengineer21-10-2026
- Sivakov was like the 5th best rider in the team, maybe not even that. He dropped before the other, he was not the final man. Besides when you got a leader who is attacking from 50-100k out , you dont really need a entire team, let alone Sivakovabstractengineer21-10-2026
- Visma is broke and cant sign any top riders. If anyone still dont get that after riders, coaches leave mid contract and even the ownwer going out publicaly saying they cant compete financially anymore. I dont know what copium world one live in lolmiguel21-10-2026
- If I were Visma I would take a bunch of money, buy out the Seixas contract and get him on that team. He is the next star after Tadej starts to slow down in two or three years.awp21-10-2026
- If the UAE follows Saudi fortunes, a lot of this might actually happen.Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- Really? And you know this from who?Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- Obviously speeds have gone up ( partially because only 20y ago, the peleton was often not interested in keeping speed high which nowadays they’re almost forced to accept) but using stage 11 as proof is ridiculous, the wind was a huge factor.Jumpyjohn21-10-2026
- The truth is: "We’ll avoid rushing from race to race" - Remco Evenepoel reveals 2027 focus and what he'll change from this season to avoid the races where Pogi will be.PogiSloFans21-10-2026
- while goofing off with stats, looked at all riders with more than 100 wins. Of these, Delio Rodríguez (1935-1948) won an astonishing 43% of the races he entered, 117 wins in just 271 race days. Never really heard of the guy, beyond lists of Vuelta winners, but nobody else comes close. Maertens and Merckx are around 32%, Poblet and Pogačar at 29%, and that makes for only 5 riders who have won more than 1/4 of the races that they entered.RidesHills21-10-2026
Loading
Write a comment