“Wout was back on the bike three days after his operation” – Visma DS stunned by Van Aert’s rapid recovery from winter-ending ankle injury

When Wout van Aert crashed heavily in the snow during his cyclocross duel with Mathieu van der Poel, the damage looked brutal. A fractured ankle, surgery, and the immediate end of his winter campaign. For a rider who has already lost seasons to injury and illness in recent years, it felt like another cruel twist.

Just days later, that story has already changed. According to Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Jan Boven, Van Aert’s recovery has moved far quicker than anyone expected.

Speaking to Wielerflits, Boven revealed that Van Aert did not waste time after surgery. “It’s definitely faster than expected, because he was already back riding three days after his operation,” he said. The original plan had been far more cautious. “The expectation was that after a week he might be able to train lightly on the rollers,” Boven explained. Instead, Van Aert has already gone far beyond that.

“By now he has already done a six-hour training ride in Spain,” Boven added. “I spoke to him at length yesterday and he simply feels good.”

The crash in Mol did not just end Van Aert’s cyclocross season. It also threatened to derail his road build-up at a time when he desperately needs stability. Recent years have brought a steady run of disruption through crashes, illness and interrupted campaigns. Another long lay-off would have been a heavy psychological blow.

Boven admitted that losing key races in the winter still hurt. “In the end we had to scrap his entire cross programme,” he said. “Skipping the World Cup in Zonhoven, Wout could still accept that, but having to miss the Belgian Championships was really painful for him.”

There was no alternative. Surgery came first, and patience was meant to follow. But Van Aert’s body has refused to stick to the script.

“You don’t really have a choice though, and he was back on the bike fairly quickly,” Boven said, outlining how the plan had to be adjusted almost immediately once Van Aert began responding so well.

The key question is what this means for the road season. Van Aert is meant to open his campaign at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with the spring classics as his first major targets. After the crash, that suddenly looked uncertain.

Boven now sounds far more confident. “It also helps that his period of inactivity wasn’t long,” he said. “He has hardly lost any ground and he can certainly look forward to the spring classics.”

That matters enormously for both rider and team. Van Aert has already spoken about how much he simply wants a consistent season after years of disruption. This recovery, if it continues, gives him his best chance yet of finally getting that clean run.

Visma will not rush him blindly. A quick return to the bike does not mean the injury is forgotten. But the early signs suggest that the worst-case scenarios feared after Mol will not define his 2026.

From surgery to six-hour rides in Spain inside days, Van Aert has already turned a winter-ending crash into a story of resilience.

And if his body continues to respond like this, the rider who left the snow in pain may yet arrive on the cobbles with momentum.