Van Aert targets immediate Vuelta success after Belgian gravel near miss

Wout van Aert has swiftly turned his attention to the Vuelta a España after narrowly missing out on the Belgian gravel title, with the Belgian targeting the red jersey when the Spanish Grand Tour kicks off in Monaco on Saturday.

Van Aert finished second to long-time friend Daan Soete in Grobbendonk on Saturday, suffering cramps in the closing kilometres after an attritional 163km in the saddle.

Despite missing out on victory, Van Aert said the race provided solid preparation ahead of the Vuelta. He sealed three stage wins and the overall title at the Tour of Denmark two weeks ago in his comeback race after missing the Tour de France due to injury.

He also admitted his delight at seeing Soete land a significant victory after the Belgian has so often been the nearly-man in the cyclocross field, where they have raced plenty together before their gravel exploits.

“I think it turned out well. There’s no one I’d rather see win than Daan,” Van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws post-race.

The 31-year-old now turns his full attention to the Vuelta, which kicks off with a 9.4km time trial in Monaco, with Van Aert setting his sights on the race leader’s red jersey for the second time in his career. 

“Taking the red leader's jersey during the opening weekend is on my mind,” Van Aert said. “Those corners certainly don't work against me, and in such a short effort, it often comes down to pure power.”

Van Aert’s ninth and most recent victory in the race against the clock came back in 2023 when he won the national title in Herzele. After a spell of not targeting the discipline, Van Aert revealed he has been working on his time trialling in recent weeks ahead of the Vuelta opener.

“The days when I focused heavily on time trialling are behind me, but I have worked on it as much as possible over the past few weeks,” he said. “I want to finish as high up as possible and then perhaps make a bid for the red jersey on the second stage.”

The Vuelta also offers Van Aert a chance to put the disappointment of his previous participation behind him. In 2024, he was forced to abandon on stage 16 after crashing on a tricky descent while leading the breakaway, with Van Aert also leading both the points and mountains classifications after winning three stages.

“That Vuelta certainly stuck,” said Visma coach Maarten Wynants. “Wout likes to check things off and likes to enter numbers, such as the mountain jersey. You can be sure that he has been triggered to do a special again.”

After missing the Tour, Van Aert certainly won’t be lacking motivation, according to Wynants. 

“Missing that Tour will certainly not have reduced his motivation. Wout is hungry for success,” Wynants said.