Wout van Aert

Tour de France multiple stage winner and Classics champion Wout van Aert, born 15 September 1994 in Herentals, Belgium turned professional in 2013 with the Belgian Continental team Telenet-Fidea. He started his career in cyclocross, winning the World Championships in that specialty three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as claiming his first professional road win, the prologue of the Tour of Belgium, in 2016.

After a controversial separation from the Vérandas Willems-Crelan team, Van Aert joined his current team, Jumbo-Visma, in March 2019. He quickly snapped up two stages of the Criterium du Dauphiné. This was followed by his first stage of his debut Tour de France that summer, in a bunch sprint, but he then abandoned, injured.

Established as a hugely versatile rider, Van Aert’s breakthrough season came in 2020 when his wins included the Milan-Sanremo Classic, Strade Bianche, two bunch sprint stages of the Tour de France and the Belgian National Time Trial title. Runner up spots in the Tour of Flanders and both the World Championships elite men’s Road Race and Time Trial events rounded off a stellar season.

Van Aert continued to display his all-round talents to devastating effect in 2021. He took wins in the Gent-Wevelgem and Amstel Gold Race Classics, stage victories in the Tour de France over the Mont Ventoux, in the final time trial and on the Champs Elysées 24 hours later.

In 2022, Van Aert once again acted as a key support on the climbs for Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France as his Danish teammate followed up his 2021 second place with the overall victory 12 months later. Simultaneously, Van Aert claimed three stage wins for himself, including the final time trial as well as the green points jersey.

The 2023 season saw Van Aert put his focus on cyclocross in the off-season and he claimed nine victories but could not beat Mathieu van der Poel at the world championships. He finished on the podium of Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix and won the E3 Saxo Classic. He dropped out of the Tour de France on stage 18 and went on to finish second behind Van der Poel at the Road World Championships.

In 2024, Van Aert won a stage at the Volta ao Algarve and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne but was involved in a crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen where he sustained fractures to his collarbone and ribs. He went on to three podium finishes in stages at the Tour de France, and then won three stages at the Vuelta a España at the end of the season but was involved in a crash on stage 16 at the Vuelta forcing him to abandon the race and end his season early due to a knee injury.

Van Aert signed 'unique' career-long contract extension with Visma-Lease a Bike. It is an indefinite deal that will take him to the end of his career. The Belgian competed in a limited cyclocross campaign over the winter, winning the Superprestige Gullegem and World Cup in Dendermonde then finishing second at Worlds to Van der Poel. He started his road season at the Clásica Jaén and Volta ao Algarve.