Wout van Aert reveals he lost his Garmin during the cyclocross World Championships: "“It was only when I wanted to press the finish that I noticed it was gone"
Cyclocross
Wout van Aert secured second place behind his arch-rival Mathieu van der Poel at the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships in Liévin. The Belgian was unable to claim his fourth world title and his first since 2018, meaning his wait for another rainbow jersey continues.
Despite falling short of victory, the 30-year-old remained upbeat and even had an unexpected moment of goodwill during the day. After completing his post-race interviews in the mixed zone, Van Aert was reunited with his Garmin watch, thanks to two young French children who had found it on the course. Interestingly, the silver medalist had not even realised he had lost it.
“It was only when I wanted to press the finish that I noticed it was gone,” Van Aert told VTM Nieuws about the missing watch. During the final lap of the championship race, the device had slipped off his wrist unnoticed
Curious about where it had been found, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider took a moment to chat with the children and express his gratitude. As a token of appreciation, he posed for a photo with them and his recovered watch. “There are still honest people, that's nice to see,” he said.
With the cyclocross season wrapped up, Van Aert now shifts his focus to the road. His main targets will be the spring classics, where he hopes to finally secure victory at the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix as he looks to finally win a second monument. Additionally, he will contest the Giro d'Italia for the first time and go in search of stage wins, before turning his attention to supporting Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France in July.
After an injury hit 2024, and a stop start winter campaign, Van Aert will be happy with his silver medal and hoping that 2025 will see him return to his magnificent best.
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