Is the season getting long for Van Aert?

Change of plans for Wout van Aert who, after competing in the Tour de France, has only participated in the Hamburg Classic, now ADAC Classic, and the Tour of Germany. The Bretagne Classic was on his calendar for this weekend, but the Belgian has decided to stop and focus on the Canadian classics that will end his season.

Wout van Aert changes his schedule while looking forward to the end of the season

"Maybe I am extending the season too much," said a demotivated Wout van Aert, who has already announced his absence from the World Championships in Rwanda and has now withdrawn from the Plouay race to have a couple more weeks of rest before the Montreal and Quebec races, the two Canadian World Tour races that teams usually attend, not only out of obligation, but also for the interesting economic rewards they usually offer to the participating stars. Additionally, he still has a commitment to participate in another race, the Super 8 Classic, a 1.Pro category race held in Belgium.

"It's basically a mental issue," Van Aert said at the end of the Tour of Germany last week, the last race in which he has competed. And he has reasons, as after his serious injury from the previous season, every move of the Belgian cyclist and every performance in the race has been scrutinized.

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Let's remember that in Belgium, cycling enjoys a status similar to that of football in other countries, and the big stars are media figures who sometimes face disproportionate pressure, as happened after the Dwars door Vlaanderen race where Wout van Aert couldn't finish in a 3 against 1 situation from Visma-Lease a Bike against the eventual winner, Neilson Powless.

Despite everything, the stage wins in the mini Strade Bianche of the Giro d'Italia and, above all, the spectacular victory in the Paris stage of the Tour de France, beating none other than Tadej Pogacar, showed that Wout van Aert still has a lot of power in his legs.

As the Belgian declared a few days ago, the plan now is to finish the season as soon as possible, recharge, and be able to have a good preseason to come back strong in 2026. What we don't know is how this will affect his cyclocross campaign, which is getting shorter every year. In any case, it is too early to know those details.