Why Wout van Aert is starting his season in Spain - "A gravel race always makes my heart beat a little faster"

Wout van Aert is a rider that truly knows no boundaries when it comes to motivation, resilience and motivation in pro cycling. 2024 was a devastating year with two crashes that derailed his season, but despite this he never stopped working on his recovery, then his cyclocross form, and only two weeks after he's already beginning his season fresh and looking for wins at the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior and Volta ao Algarve.

“Last year was my first time riding these races. It turned out to be the perfect preparation for the Flemish opening weekend," the Belgian said in words shared by the team. In Jaen he will have dozens of gravel kilometers in a very explosive race where he will be the headliner and one of the main favourites. In the Algarve he's got three opportunities to win bunch sprints, a time-trial with a summit finish and a mountain stage where he will support Jonas Vingegaard.

“The Volta ao Algarve has a bit of everything. There are a few stages where I see opportunities to go for the win, but the main goal is to take another step in my preparation for the big spring classics. Of course, we’ll also aim for the overall victory with Jonas. I’m looking forward to racing my first road races of the season."

All this will be before the 'Opening Weekend' where he hopes to show strong form. "I finished third in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. We thought it would be a good idea to include the Clásica Jaén and the Volta ao Algarve in my program again. I think they are two beautiful, varied races where I can immediately test myself. A gravel race always makes my heart beat a little faster.”

The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is following a very different path than that of Mathieu van der Poel into the spring classics, taking on a lot of racing in February and early March, and then going on an altitude camp before tackling the main cobbled classics block. Meanwhile, the man who beat him in the cyclocross World Championships once again will do a training block before starting his season at Tirreno-Adriatico, and also aim for Milano-Sanremo before the cobblestones. The two should meet at the E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix only.