Last test for Wout van Aert's form ahead of Tour de France at national championships: "I'm feeling better than a month ago, so I hope this form will be enough"
Cycling
The national championships' main block concludes today and among the big races on the schedule are the elite Belgian road races. In the men's event Team Visma | Lease a Bike are very eager to take the win, and Wout van Aert will see how his form is ahead of the Tour de France.
The Dutch team will start off this morning with four riders in their lineup including van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Tosh van der Sande and Julien Vermote. The latter two will certainly try to control the hilly race, as teams such as Soudal - Quick-Step and Alpecin-Deceuninck come in with big numbers and may try to use them.
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The leading duo, who will be racing the Tour de France which starts next Saturday in Florence, are both big contenders for the gold medal and the prestigious jersey. They will not have to face defending champion Remco Evenepoel who fell ill this week, but the likes of Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen (both having over a dozen teammates) will be very tough challengers; of course not discarding teams like Intermarché - Wanty and Lidl-Trek who also have very strong squads packed with classics specialists.
Ahead of the big race, the last the duo will race before the Tour de France, van Aert and Benoot said in words shared by Visma:
Wout van Aert: "This race is always special. I'm feeling better than a month ago, so I hope this form will be enough to compete for the jersey today".
Tiesj Benoot: "I'm looking forward to this championships close to home. We have four motivated riders at the start who want to get the most out of it".
Van Aert is a three-time winner of the time-trial event but has only won the road race once, back in 2021, where he beat Edward Theuns and Remco Evenepoel in the final sprint after a strong attack that managed to elude the sprinters. Perhaps he will try the same strategy today in Zottegem.
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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.
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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)...
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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🇧🇪 #BKwielrennen Wout and Tiesj look ahead. 💬
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