"It’s classic Wout to show up for all the big moments" - Belgian's coach believes World Championships can bring out the best of him
CyclingWednesday, 23 September 2026 at 13:06
Wout Van Aert is one of the biggest wildcards for the 2026 World Championships. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is not in peak form as usual as some of his rivals, but has shown to be growing into it during the Vuelta a España. Within Visma, there is the belief that he may bring out his best this Sunday, and have a tactic planned out.
“Mentally, I noticed that Wout was already thinking about the World Championships the day after the Vuelta. Physically, he was quite tired for the first two days and took it easy, but from Wednesday onwards, he switched back to training mode,” his coach Mathieu Heijboer said in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws.
The Belgian's initial plan was to race the Tour de France all-out, and then use the Vuelta a España as preparation towards the worlds. An injury took him out of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes and the Tour as a result, but has given him more time to train properly into the Vuelta.
There he won the points classification and won two stages, whilst not psychologically overloading himself with the pressure to win. For much of the race, he rode in support of Matthew Brennan; whilst continuously using breakaways to feed his own personal ambitions in separate days.
Van Aert was the only rider to use the Vuelta as specific preparation towards the worlds, with the fatigue factor perhaps not coming into play as much as for other riders such as Enric Mas, Primoz Roglic or Oscar Onley.
Wout Van Aert won at the Vuelta a España
“He is hugely motivated for these Worlds and has recovered well physically, ready to set his sights on Sunday’s road race. Wout is simply someone who wants to seize every opportunity he can. I notice a tremendous drive in him to be at his best in Montréal, but we’ll see that same drive next year in the build-up to the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and the Tour".
Heijboer recalls this past spring, in which Van Aert showed his very best form at Milano-Sanremo and then by winning Paris-Roubaix for the first time in his career. The Visma rider is someone who does not collapse under pressure. “It’s classic Wout to show up for all the big moments and put a lot of other things aside to make that happen".
Has Paris-Roubaix win changed Wout Van Aert?
The Roubaix win will have given Van Aert a lot of confidence, having ridden on the attack all day, and having had the legs to withstand Tadej Pogacar's pace on that day. A day that marked his career, but has not changed it:
“There’s no sense of complacency or casualness just because he’s won Roubaix now. At the end of his career, it’ll be fantastic to look back on the fact that he won Roubaix at least once, hopefully more, but right now, I just see a very hungry rider who, despite having just come off a Grand Tour, is giving it his all again to put in a strong performance at the World Championships in Montréal.”
How can Wout Van Aert win World Championships?
But to win in the very tough Montréal circuit, there will need to be tactics at play. The race is expected to be quite explosive, but in any scenario Van Aert cannot wait for a sprint. In 2022, he was beaten by Tadej Pogacar on the same uphill sprint, whilst in recent years he has often not been on the winning end of such disputes.
“We have to be honest: if Wout waits until the final lap and then tries to follow Remco, Seixas, or Del Toro, it’s unrealistic to expect him to contend for the world title," Heijboer is well aware.
"If you’re aiming for a sprint, you’re assuming the pace won’t be high on the final lap and that things will come to a standstill at the top of the climb, and I’m not sure that’s realistic."
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Hence, it is not only likely to expected a Van Aert on the attack, but almost a certainty. “A very closed race, where everyone waits for the final lap, doesn’t favour Wout, or Mathieu van der Poel and many other riders, for that matter, because the uphill effort becomes too demanding for them".
“I think that kind of scenario only favours three riders: Seixas, Remco, and Del Toro. I expect all the other riders to go on the attack, and I’m sure the Belgian national coach will devise a solid plan for that.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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