Toon Aerts considers switching full-time to gravel: "The question is of course whether you can build a professional career with it"

Toon Aerts is back with a vengeance. The 30-year-old rider was already in a very good shape in the last three cyclocrosses of 2023/24 season, but Aerts also showed great things after that. He won a highly regarded gravel Gran Fondo in Limburg, which leaves him wanting more, even thinkint about a switch to gravel in the future.

"I have worked and trained very hard to be good and I am now benefiting from that." Don't Aerts' successes in the gravel races, for example he also showed himself at the Belgian Championships with a fourth place, leave him wanting more? "Gravel suits my profile. I can use my qualities there. You don't have to think too much, just ride fast and fight. That suits me. But the question is of course whether you can build a professional career with it?," he wonders in an interview with WielerFlits.

Read also

Laurens ten Dam and Thomas Dekker arrested for 'indecent behavior' in the USA ahead of Unbound Gravel

"It's very chic now and winning the competition in Valkenburg is certainly great. Sponsors also like that, gravel. Certainly the bicycle brands, they are eager for it. But making it your full-time job is still difficult. I think the cross is still more interesting for the time being. Would I even want it? Yes, because I really like it. It is the perfect combination of the technical aspects of cyclocross and the hard, long road races, but without the risks."

And so for the time being, Aerts will remain a full-time CXer. His program in the coming months is therefore completely focused on cyclo-cross. "The plan is to ride road races on the road until the National Championships. Then I'll leave the bike aside for a few weeks to have my off-season. In July I will build up again towards the cross season. I will definitely participate in the Gravel World Championships in October, which is the perfect preparation for cyclocross racing. Although I also want to show myself there."

Read also

"Within half an hour, that whole building was shaking" - Niki Terpstra says that not all riders hold celibacy at Tour de France

Bora DS admits they underestimated Primoz Roglic's arrival: "We weren't really aware of what it means to have ridden for another team for eight years"