"New bike day" - Wout van Aert tries out gravel as he recovers from long form peak

Wout van Aert has finished second at the cyclocross World Championships, then third at both Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. He was a headliner during the spring classics, despite some bad luck, and he's now getting back on the bike for some off-road action.

In a ride posted this morning van Aert shared a picture of himself on a gravel bike, with the Strava activity's caption being 'New bike day'. The Jumbo-Visma rider is an expert riding off road, and is using his off time to experiment with a discipline that is becoming more and more popular in the peloton - with World Championships having been created last year.

The Belgian will now be taking some weeks of easy riding and off time from the bike in order to recover, and will then train at altitude as he prepares for the Tour de France, where he won several stages and the green jersey last year.