Van Aert reveals when his return will be and the race plan for 2026

As it had been announced for several days, Visma-Lease a Bike has presented the calendars of its main leaders ahead of the 2026 campaign, which will kick off in a few days at the Tour Down Under. A season in which Wout van Aert will try to have a year without incidents, with spring as the main focus, followed by participation in the Tour de France and La Vuelta a España.

“Winning a monument in 2026,” Wout van Aert's goal for the new season

Visma-Lease a Bike, and Wout van Aert himself, have only confirmed the competition plan that had been rumored for a cyclist who in 2026 will try to return to the path of victory that has eluded him since that fateful fall in La Vuelta 2024.

A Wout van Aert who, precisely these days is recovering from an unexpected ankle fracture that occurred after a fall in the cyclocross of Mol and, however, it does not seem that it will alter his planned road calendar in any way.

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The classics will once again be the highlight of the campaign for a Wout van Aert who has returned to a more traditional calendar after focusing last year on achieving the Flanders-Roubaix double at all costs. In fact, he will be present at the Opening Weekend to participate in Omloop Het Niewsblad, which this year takes place on February 28.

The following weekend, we will see him on the sterrato of Siena, where he will try to repeat the victory he achieved in Strade Bianche in 2020. “After my victory in Siena during last year's Giro d'Italia, I realized that Strade Bianche, despite the changes in the route, is still very suitable for my qualities,” Van Aert explained.

And without leaving Italy, his first major objective will arrive, the Milan-San Remo. Between Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, the Belgian will use the Tirreno-Adriatico to fine-tune his form in anticipation of the tough confrontation that awaits him in the Classicissima, with the expected battle that Tadej Pogacar will likely seek to pose in one of the two monuments that are still missing from his collection.

E3 Saxo Classic and the magical week of pavé with Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the major absences in Wout van Aert's palmarès will close this first part of the season for the Belgian. Wout is clear about the importance of this upcoming spring: “Winning a monument in 2026 would be the icing on the cake of my career.”

Wout van Aert will return to competition at the Tour de Auvergne-Rhone Alpes, previously known as Critérium du Dauphiné, as a preparation for the Tour de France where, in addition to being Jonas Vingegaard's lieutenant, Van Aert sees “several opportunities to win stages,” and after the French race, he will return to La Vuelta a España, which brings back painful memories after the brutal fall he suffered in 2024: “I still have unfinished business in La Vuelta. It was a painful exit in 2024, but I will return with a lot of motivation. As a team, we can definitely achieve something special there.”

However, La Vuelta is still a preparation for the big goal at the end of the season, which is none other than the World Championship in Montreal: “The World Championship in Canada has been on my mind for a long time. I see La Vuelta as an ideal preparation to be at my best level there.”