Wout van Aert made one small 'baby step' in his rehabilitation from a knee injury that knocked him out of the Vuelta a España while leading both the points and mountains classification. On Wednesday, he walked 2.74 kilometres with his partner Sarah De Bie and proudly posted his file to Strava.
Van Aert crashed on a wet descent on stage 16 to Lagos de Covadonga on September 3 and suffered a bruised bone near his knee, an injury that called an early end to his season, forcing him to miss the UCI Road World Championships.
It was the second major blow of the season for the Belgian, who crashed during the Dwars door Vlaanderen in March and suffered multiple fractures that excluded him from the rest of the Spring Classics and the Giro d'Italia, which was to be his main goal of the season.
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Van Aert returned in time for the Tour de France but was shut out of any stage wins, coming third in the opening stage and second in the sprints on stages 12 and 13. A bronze medal in the Olympic Games time trial signalled his return to top form and he won three stages of the Vuelta a España before crashing out.
Last week, he told Dernier Heure that facing another rehabilitation was been difficult but he looked on the bright side. "I can take away a lot of positives from this season, I've won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, finished third in Het Nieuwsblad and E3," Van Aert said.
"I think my form in the Vuelta was the best since the 2022 Tour de France. That's all very important mentally and for further down the line.
"It's important to relativize everything, it's not been my best season, and I've had a lot of setbacks. But I'm very proud of what I could do."
Visma-Lease a Bike must have agreed because they extended an open-ended contract to Van Aert that can last until he decides to retire.
"The team took the initiative and showed confidence in breaking open my contract," Van Aert said last week. "For me, there was no doubt: I wanted to extend.
"But I've also turned 30 in the meantime. Then you ask yourself the question: how long do I want to continue as a rider? That's how we decided together not to put an end date on my career and to make a long-term commitment. I think that's really cool and I'm very proud of it.
"I never have to worry about contracts or transfers again. I know the team and the way it works inside and out. From now on it's just cycling for me."
