Wout van Aert is to remain at Visma-Lease a Bike for the remainder of his profession, the squad introduced on Wednesday morning.
The Belgian rider has entered a “distinctive” settlement together with his Dutch group to make sure that he’ll experience of their colors for nonetheless lengthy he retains driving; the 30-year-old’s earlier deal ran out in 2026.
Lengthy-term offers are nothing new in males’s biking, with Jonas Vingegaard signed with Visma till the top of 2028, and Mathieu van der Poel tied to Alpecein-Deceuninck till the identical yr. Nevertheless, this might be the primary open-ended contract deal, the size of which might be determined by how lengthy Van Aert decides to maintain on driving.
Van Aert is likely one of the stars of the game and of his group, successful 9 Tour de France phases, a number of one-day races and the cyclo-cross World Championships 3 times. He joined the group in 2019.
He had a blended 2024, successful Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne initially of the Classics season earlier than he crashed out of Dwars door Vlaanderen, ending his cost on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. He recovered in time for the Tour, the place he twice completed second on phases, and he then completed third within the particular person time trial on the Olympics.
Van Aert returned to kind on the Vuelta a España, the place he received three phases and appeared set to win the factors and mountains jerseys, however he crashed and severely injured himself, ending his season early.
“Wout is in fact a unbelievable rider with an excellent palmares,” the group’s boss, Richard Plugge, stated on Wednesday. “He’s an all-rounder: a sprinter, a basic rider, a time trialist and on his finest days he additionally wins a mountain stage just like the well-known victory on Mont Ventoux within the Tour de France. However in addition to that, Wout has actually develop into an vital tradition service, an indispensable hyperlink in our group.
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“He’s a frontrunner and a group participant. He’s a rider who additionally makes others within the group higher, simply by means of his insights and charisma. We’re extraordinarily pleased with him and thankfully that’s mutual.”
“I did not must assume lengthy when this concept got here up,” Wout van Aert stated. “To begin with, as a result of at Visma-Lease a Bike we work with the most effective individuals and the most effective tools. Collectively we’re continuously searching for enchancment, which suggests we preserve creating individually but additionally as a group. I owe quite a lot of success to that, we actually do it collectively.
“I really feel very a lot at house on this group, which is essential to me. This group is exclusive and has suited me for 5 years and I wish to preserve it that method. That is why I made a decision to remain right here perpetually, and that feels actually good.”
