Wout van Aert reveals cramp scare behind surprise Belgian gravel defeat

Van Aert entered Sunday’s race as the clear favourite but eventually had to settle for second place after Soete broke clear with around three kilometres remaining.

The pair had escaped together with 22 kilometres to go and appeared set to decide the Belgian title between them. But when Soete accelerated late in the race, Van Aert had no answer.

Television images showed the Visma | Lease a Bike rider repeatedly looking down towards his bike before grimacing and taking on food in the final kilometres. After the finish, Van Aert explained that the problem was physical rather than mechanical.

“I spent a lot of energy during the race,” he said in the flash interview. “Towards the end I was getting close to cramping.”

Van Aert suggested that his attempts to keep the two man move alive had ultimately left him without enough in reserve when the decisive attack came.

“I really tried to make sure we could get to the finish together,” he added. “That probably cost me the victory in the end.”

Despite missing out on the national title, disappointment was limited.

Soete is one of Van Aert’s closest friends and regular training partners, while the course itself passed over roads and gravel tracks both riders have known since childhood.

That made the unusual finale particularly meaningful for Van Aert.

“We ride here all the time,” he said. “We grew up together, so to suddenly be riding at the front of the Belgian Championships together felt pretty unreal.”

The home setting also helped turn the race into a particularly memorable day for Van Aert, with large crowds lining roads he knows from his regular training rides.

He had already sensed in the weeks beforehand that the Belgian Gravel Championships had captured the attention of the local community.

“In the last few weeks, nobody really spoke to me about anything else than the Belgian Gravel Championships,” Van Aert said. “So I already had the feeling that a lot of people were going to come out.”

Even with those expectations, the atmosphere made an impression.

“It definitely didn’t disappoint,” he added. “It was really great fun.”

After a day on familiar roads, Van Aert will now turn his attention to the Vuelta a España, which starts in Monaco next Saturday.

The change of scenery is not lost on him.

“From the Kempen to Monaco, that’s a bit of a difference,” Van Aert joked after the finish.