“I’ve already booked my holiday... I want a full month off" — Wout van Aert rules out a surprise appearance at Il Lombardia
Cycling
Wout van Aert has firmly shut the door on any late-season surprises, joking that not even an Il Lombardia invitation could tempt him back onto the start line before winter.
“I could announce I’m riding Lombardia, but I don’t think anyone would lose sleep over that,” the Belgian laughed in conversation with WielerFlits. “I’ve already booked my holiday and I’ve no intention of changing that.”
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider will round off his 2025 road campaign with the Super 8 Classic in Belgium following the Canadian WorldTour double-header in Québec and Montréal. With no World Championships, European Championships, or gravel races on his calendar, it marks an early end to what has been a quietly impressive season — even if it lacked the marquee one-day victories some had anticipated.
A Season of Peaks and Grit
By his own admission, Van Aert’s year wasn’t without its struggles. Spring failed to yield a major win, but his consistency saw him collect podiums and top-fives in nearly all the major cobbled and Ardennes classics: second in Dwars Door Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl, and fourth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, and the Amstel Gold Race.
“It was a good season, but not always an easy one,” he reflected. “I had to grit my teeth more than usual — things didn’t always come naturally. There were a few too many ups and downs for my liking, but when things clicked, they really clicked.”
The highlight reel features two standout stage wins: one in the Giro d’Italia — a gritty gravel triumph in Siena — and another in the Tour de France. Both were achieved in races where Van Aert openly struggled for consistency but showed remarkable resilience and tactical maturity.
“In the Giro, I didn’t feel great during the first week, but through character and experience, I still managed to win that stage to Siena,” he said. “That taught me something. Even with less-than-ideal legs, that kind of win still counts. I’ve learned to believe in myself in those moments too.”
No Early Start to the Cross Season Either
For fans hoping Van Aert might fast-track his return to cyclocross, there’s more disappointment in store. “My last road race is on 20 September. After that, I’m taking at least a full month off,” he confirmed. “I’ll probably only start training again in early November. We’ll take things step by step.”
That likely rules him out of early marquee cross fixtures like the Koppenbergcross, where Thibau Nys has already announced his intent to race. Instead, Van Aert appears to be prioritising rest and recovery — a strategic pause as he looks ahead to another year at the top level, both on and off the road.
Van Aert finished runner-up to Mathieu van der Poel at the 2024 CX World Championships
The Bigger Picture
For all the headlines Van Aert has generated in recent seasons — from Tour stage wins to classics heartbreak — 2025 may go down as a year of balance and perspective. The numbers are there, the wins still came, and the fire hasn’t dimmed. But for now, the Belgian is looking forward to something far simpler: a well-earned break.
“I want a proper month off,” he smiled. “And I’m not planning on changing that.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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