Toon Aerts finally set for Lotto road debut: "I want to grab this opportunity with both hands"

Toon Aerts has long been recognised as one of cyclocross’s most consistent performers. A three-time UCI World Cup race winner and former European champion, the 31-year-old has spent the bulk of his elite career racing off-road for Deschacht-Hens-Maes. But in 2025, he is embracing a new challenge, turning his attention more seriously to the road.

This Sunday, Aerts will make his road debut for Lotto at Rund um Köln, a UCI 1.1 race in Germany. It marks the beginning of a fresh chapter in a career that already saw a successful comeback to the cyclocross peloton.

Speaking to WielerFlits, Aerts said, “I have always been asking for a good road program. If you want to ride a good winter, it is very important to finish a good summer with quality races. What we did last year was quite okay. But that threatened to fall away a bit, because the GP Jef Scherens and the Druivenkoers were cancelled. There was a reduction in the number of races, but without me saying anything about it, the team management had taken action in the contacts with Lotto. Super nice!”

That support has helped Aerts land a racing schedule that includes the upcoming Tour of Norway, five days of hard, undulating racing that he believes can only help his all-round development.

“The Tour of Norway is on my program soon. That is five days of full throttle, often up and down, and then also in bad weather. That is something different from the Belgium Tour, where you have two flat stages and a time trial over five days. This will definitely make me a better road cyclist, but I have never approached it in this way before.”

While road racing has always been a feature of Aerts’ calendar, this season feels different. His ambitions are no longer just about fine-tuning form ahead of winter. They’re about contributing to Lotto’s team effort, and testing himself against deeper fields on longer and tougher terrain.

“I have always had some road ambitions in June with a few nice Belgian races, and that will be even more now. At times it will probably be less for myself, but more to help the team. I will make it a point not to let myself go unnoticed this summer. Either by contributing to teammates who are delivering great performances, or by performing myself. I want to grab this opportunity with both hands.”

His connection with Lotto management is not a new one. Aerts highlighted how Kurt Van de Wouwer, Lotto’s head of development, has been familiar with his qualities for more than a decade.

“We first want to see how the coming weeks will go. In principle, Kurt has known my qualities for longer than today. More than ten years ago, I already did races where he was present as team leader of the Lotto youth team. He is convinced that I can contribute to the team, and that is nice to hear.”

Despite his road focus increasing, Aerts remains grounded in cyclocross. His return last season was a statement in itself, quickly climbing back up the UCI rankings and proving he still belongs at the top level.

“I've won some great races and I hope to win even more in the future. After my comeback, I was able to regain my place straight away and I'm second in the UCI rankings. That means that racing is a quality I haven't forgotten after those two years of absence, that I have my place in the cross peloton. I also shouldn't lie about the fact that it's already earned me a pretty penny.”

Road and gravel results have also given him confidence. In 2024, Aerts finished tenth at the Gravel World Championships against a stacked field that included numerous Grand Tour competitors.

“I rode the Gravel World Championship last year, where I was tenth among all the riders who had ridden at least one Grand Tour that year. That is not yet possible for me in 2025, but you can still see a difference in those men when you ride bigger, more difficult and longer races more often. That can only benefit me in cyclo-cross, especially with the succession of cyclo-cross.”

His growing interest in road racing isn’t entirely new. Aerts reflected on past plans that never materialised, but which planted the seed for this latest opportunity.

“We once had the ambition to set up a project with Baloise Trek Lions like Thibau Nys does; to complete competitions at Lidl-Trek in the summer. Not as extensive as Thibau, more like what Pim Ronhaar did last year. But that didn't happen then. After that I said: we'll leave the road for what it is, I want to focus on my cross-country and win my cyclo-cross competitions. But anyway, now I get the chance and I notice that the road appeals to me more than I always wanted to admit.”

That shift in attitude is being reinforced by the level of support and professionalism within the Lotto setup. The transition from a lean cyclocross operation to a full-service WorldTeam is something Aerts is clearly enjoying.

“I am very curious about how a competition weekend like this will be. In a cyclo-cross team, you had to clean your bike yourself on Saturday and leave for the race on Sunday morning. Now, you are picked up the day before by the team bus and you drive to the hotel, where you have top-notch food ready. That is a big difference.”

Aerts admits his form isn’t yet at its peak, but his eyes are set on June as the period where he hopes to perform consistently. With a new road racing environment and motivation high, he’s eager to prove he belongs.

“I’m not at my best yet, so you can’t expect me to play an important role deep into the final on Sunday. Maybe it’ll all work out, but I’m not assuming that at the moment. Towards the beginning of June I want to grow into my best form and perform well for a few weekends in a row after the Tour of Norway. I do notice that it gives me even more motivation than going to the same second-tier races for the umpteenth time. We have to see if that works for me and in a few weeks, after the Belgian championship, there will be a first evaluation.”