Wout van Aert to race on gravel? "Maybe I’ll do it in the years to come"

Gravel has become popular over in the USA, but this year a new UCI Gravel World Series and the first edition of the UCI-sanctioned Gravel World Championships has seen many new faces emerge in the discipline, and has sparked the interest of many more, including Wout van Aert.

“Maybe I’ll do it in the years to come. But then it would be mostly to have a nice time," van Aert revealed in an interview with Wielerflits. The Belgian is an expert in cyclocross and naturally would be a good fit for the off-road discipline. With the number of opportunities rising in Europe for pro athletes to show their worth in the discipline, the Jumbo-Visma rider has admitted that he's considering it in the future.

“I watched the last edition on TV and thought it was nice to see. The [UCI] gravel worlds is organized quite late in the road season. On the other hand, I think this title fight is less stressful than the other big goals in the year," he argued.

There are many questions over van Aert's 2023 calendar, but he has revealed in a recent interview that he will likely aim for the cyclocross World Championships, then the spring classics (prioritizing Tour des Flandres and Paris-Roubaix), and then do the Tour de France and road World Championships combination in July and August. It will be a packed season, after an already packed 2022 where van Aert's quality and versatility sees him in action all year round and in all types of races.

“I know that the [UCI] gravel worlds will be held again in Italy next year and in Belgium the following year,” he said, regarding the recently announced 2024 Worlds which will take place in Leuven. “It’s a beautiful sport. I was positively surprised how much attention this worlds received. I think the gravel worlds has a great future.”

In 2022, cyclocross rival Gianni Vermeersch took the win in the Gravel World Championships, whilst Daniel Oss rode to second place and his arch-rival Mathieu van der Poel rode into the bronze medal.