Wout Van Aert’s remarkable Strade Bianche record ahead of 2026 return

First, it is worth looking at how Van Aert entered the road scene. At that point, he was still primarily a cyclocross rider. In fact, his most recent world title in cyclocross had come only four weeks before his first appearance at Strade Bianche. That race marked the beginning of his first serious spring classics campaign.

In the years before, he had raced mainly in smaller Belgian road events, though not without success. A stronger road programme was the natural next step in his development.

Less than two weeks after his final cyclocross race of 2018, Van Aert lined up for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, his first major classic. He immediately made an impression by following the favourites and finishing in the group sprint for second behind solo winner Michael Valgren.

A week later came Strade Bianche. It turned into an unforgettable edition, largely because of the brutal weather. The gravel sectors became stretches of mud, conditions that probably did not hurt a rider with Van Aert’s cyclocross background.

He followed an attack by Romain Bardet, before Tiesj Benoot joined them, rode clear and won the race. Van Aert, clearly empty after such a demanding effort and still lacking the road volume of a full time classics rider, had little left for the final climb of the Via Santa Caterina.

He famously toppled over on the climb, then tried to get back on his bike but, in complete exhaustion, landed on the rear wheel rather than the saddle. He also forgot to fuel properly in the chaos of the finale, an understandable mistake for a rider still learning the demands of top level road racing.

Even so, he still finished on the podium. That alone was remarkable, especially given that he was still riding for a modest cyclocross team at the time. After the finish, he lay flat on his back on the ground, completely spent. His wife Sarah De Bie was genuinely worried by what she had seen. It was an early glimpse of the determination that would come to define so much of Van Aert’s road career.

He went on to enjoy an impressive spring, including a top ten in the Tour of Flanders, and later in the year he finished on the podium at the European Championships. After his split from Vérandas Willems Crelan, he rode the following cyclocross winter backed by private sponsors. Then, from 1 March 2019, he officially joined Jumbo Visma in time for the spring classics.

Once again, Van Aert opened his road season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. He looked strong, though he still seemed to miss a little on the tougher climbs. It was not the perfect confidence boost heading into Strade Bianche a week later.

Still, in a dry edition this time, he was able to follow Julian Alaphilippe and Jakob Fuglsang deep into the race before finally being dropped on the Santa Caterina. The result was the same as the year before, third place, but it was clear he had taken another step forward.

Over the rest of the 2019 season, his progress as a road rider became impossible to ignore. Thanks largely to his performances at the Critérium du Dauphiné, he was added to the Tour de France line up at the last minute. He won his first Tour stage and seemed to be on an uninterrupted rise.

Then everything changed. In the Pau time trial, he crashed heavily and suffered a devastating injury to his right leg. At one point, there were even doubts over whether he would be able to resume his career at the highest level.

As so often in his career, Van Aert responded with remarkable determination. He returned to racing in a handful of cyclocross events and even won the Krawatencross in his home town. It felt like the start of a new chapter.

He opened his road season again at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where the pattern looked familiar. Solid form, but not yet enough to follow the very strongest riders.

Then came another setback for the entire sport: the Covid-19 shutdown. The spring calendar collapsed, including the classics. Strade Bianche, however, was eventually rescheduled for 1 August, in extraordinary summer heat that pushed temperatures towards 40 degrees.

That later date gave Van Aert extra time to complete his recovery. He arrived in top form and attacked on Le Tolfe before riding solo to victory. It was not just his first Strade Bianche win. It felt like the full arrival of a new version of Wout Van Aert.

A week later he won Milan-San Remo, his first and so far only Monument. He then took two Tour de France stages, finished second in both the World Championship time trial and road race, and ended the season runner up to Mathieu van der Poel in the Tour of Flanders. By then, he was no longer simply a rider crossing over from cyclocross. He was firmly among the best road riders in the world.

In 2021, Van Aert began his season directly at Strade Bianche, without any race days in his legs. At the time, that was still unusual for a rider targeting a race of that scale, especially given the expectations created by his 2020 season.

This time, he could not match those expectations. He was unable to follow Van der Poel, Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal, and he looked under pressure throughout the finale. Even so, he still fought his way to fourth place. For most riders, that would have been a fine result. For Van Aert, it felt more like a warning that timing and preparation matter, even in a race that suits him so well.

He would not return to Strade Bianche for several years.

By the time Van Aert came back to a Strade style stage at the 2025 Giro d’Italia, he had already lived through another brutal cycle of crashes and recoveries. His heavy fall in Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2024 had been followed by another serious setback at the Vuelta. Together, those injuries seemed to blunt his spring campaign.

Then illness disrupted his Giro preparation as well. He struggled badly during the opening week and even considered leaving the race. But on the Strade Bianche stage, everything clicked again. He won in vintage Van Aert fashion, through sheer grit and refusal to give in. It felt like both a sporting victory and an emotional one.

This Saturday, Van Aert returns to Strade Bianche itself. As so often, his preparation has not been entirely smooth. During the cyclocross winter he injured his ankle in a crash, though he appeared to recover well. Then, just before the start of his 2026 road season, illness forced him to miss Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

He did make his return at Le Samyn three days later, five days before Strade Bianche. He looked good there, but a late puncture prevented him from contesting the sprint for victory, so the exact state of his form remains hard to judge.

That leaves Strade Bianche as something of an open question once again. Van Aert’s history in the race suggests he rarely disappoints, but recent seasons have taught him the value of patience. After Strade, he is set to ride Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo as he builds towards the cobbled peak of the spring.