“The main goal still under wraps?” – Is Wout van Aert hiding a surprise before 2025 ends? Visma teammate fuels speculation
Cycling
Wout van Aert is set to return to racing at the Deutschland Tour later this month, but it appears his 2025 season may still hold a surprise. A cryptic remark from Team Visma | Lease a Bike team-mate Victor Campenaerts has reignited speculation that the Belgian might be keeping a major late-season goal under wraps.
“The main goal isn’t listed. Is it still being kept under wraps?” Campenaerts commented on Sporza’s Instagram page after the Belgian broadcasters had announced Van Aert's officially revealed schedule for the remainder of the season. Van Aert himself replied only with a non-committal emoji — enough to spark a wave of theories about what could still lie ahead.
A season of range and resilience
Van Aert’s year has already been full. After a short cyclocross winter, he kicked off his road season early at Clásica Jaén and the Volta ao Algarve. He rode selflessly in support roles but still made an impact in the spring classics, finishing second at Dwars door Vlaanderen, fourth at both the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race, and runner-up at Brabantse Pijl.
Illness hampered his Giro d’Italia build-up, but he still took a brilliant solo win on the Strade Bianche-style gravel stage and helped guide Simon Yates to overall victory. Then came a block of altitude training and a strong Tour de France, where he supported Jonas Vingegaard and signed off with a stunning solo victory in Paris — attacking on the Montmartre climb and holding off the peloton on the Champs-Élysées.
Van Aert concluded his 2025 Tour de France in fairy-tale style
What could be next?
Van Aert is confirmed to ride the Deutschland Tour (20–24 August), followed by the Canadian World Tour races in Québec and Montréal. The World Championships in Rwanda remain uncertain, with the Belgian himself admitting recently, “A Worlds is always beautiful, but it has to make sense.”
With no other races officially announced, fans and pundits are now asking: is Van Aert hiding one final target?
He’s already hinted at a desire to ride the Belgian Gravel Championships on 17 August in Westerlo. The Gravel World Championships in South Limburg — a discipline Van Aert has the skillset to dominate — could also be on the radar. The European Road Championships or Il Lombardia are further possibilities, depending on his condition and goals.
Whatever the case, Van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike are keeping their cards close to their chest — at least for now. But as Campenaerts' comment suggests, the most important goal of Van Aert’s 2025 campaign might still be to come.
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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- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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