Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike have already begun their preparations for the 2026 cobbled Spring Classics with a recon of the roads of Paris-Roubaix and gear testing up the long-lasting five-star Carrefour de l’Arbre sector in northern France.
Alongside a number of teammates, Van Aert and Co. had been photographed on their annual check by Flemish each day newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, as they wrapped up heat for the grim climate, which may properly be much like what greets them through the Hell of the North come April.
Van Aert, simply in the future prior, had been entertaining the nation off the bike, as he appeared on the TV quiz present ‘De Slimste Mens ter Wereld’ (The Smartest Particular person within the World). Although he was absolutely again in enterprise on the cobbles.
HLN reported that the Belgian star was alongside Christophe Laporte, newcomer to the WorldTour workforce Timo Kielich, and a brand new Visma Growth workforce arrival, Aldo Taillieu, for a number of throughout up the Carrefour de l’Arbre.
It is a typical deciding part of Roubaix, which Van Aert is aware of all too properly, having punctured out of rivalry for victory there in 2023, permitting long-term rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to experience solo to victory.
The Dutchman has gained the final three editions of Paris-Roubaix, the race Van Aert has lengthy mentioned is the one he most needs to win. By means of a combination of dangerous luck, inconsistent kind and Van der Poel generally merely being too good, Van Aert has completed seventh, second, third and fourth previously 4 editions, however has not but gained it.
He had a persistently robust Classics marketing campaign as at all times in 2025, however fourth in all the Tour of Flanders, Roubaix and Amstel Gold would have been disappointing because the likes of Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates-XRG) rode to the victories. Not forgetting his heartbreaking loss at Dwars door Vlaanderen to Neilson Powless from a Visma three-on-one.
Van Aert bounced again after the Classics this previous season and resumed his profitable methods with a surprising triumph on the gravel stage of the Giro d’Italia to Siena. On the ultimate day of the Tour de France, he turned the one rider to drop Pogačar on a climb in 2025 and claimed a memorable victory in Paris.
By way of the testing, not a lot is totally different for Visma’s cobbled Classics squad, with gear suppliers Cervélo, SRAM, Reserve, and Vittoria staying the identical, however one other refresh of the experimental GRAVAA adjustable tyre strain system – which ladies’s teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot operated en path to her Paris-Roubaix victory final 12 months – can at all times assist.
With severe enterprise getting underway for Visma’s prime riders in France, the subsequent step will not be one other quiz present look, however necessary medical testing, photoshoots and media tasks to set them up for 2026.
It will happen within the Netherlands, earlier than the lads in yellow and black head to their first coaching camp on Spain’s east coast, as will a lot of the WorldTour groups.
Van Aert’s state of affairs is barely distinctive, nonetheless, as he’s considered one of a number of multi-discipline riders on Visma-Lease a Bike who needs to be racing cyclocross this winter. Het Laatste Nieuws reported that Van Aert’s return to the off-road world may be anticipated no sooner than December 20.
The UCI World Cup in Antwerp takes place on that date, which has additionally been signposted as a possible CX return date for Van der Poel, so the rivalry may very well be renewed sooner than initially anticipated.
