Wout van Aert may have ended his season early, but he will have plenty more with his Visma | Lease a Bike team. The road and cyclocross star already had a contract with the Dutch WorldTeam until 2026, but it has now been extended indefinitely.
“I didn’t have to think long when this idea came up,” said on a video posted on X. “First of all, because at Team Visma | Lease a Bike works with the best people and the best materials. Together we are constantly looking for improvement, so that we continue to develop individually but also as a team. I owe a lot of success to that, we really do it together. But besides that, I feel very much at home in this team. That is very important to me. This team is unique and has suited me for five years and I would like to keep it that way. That’s why I’ve decided to stay here forever, and that feels really good.”
Van Aert’s 2024 season was certainly a roller coaster. After a strong start to the year, in the spring, at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, he crashed hard which forced him to completely change his racing plans. He had to skip the Giro and stop his Classics campaign, which were both major goals. He would ultimately race the Tour de France in what he said was the worst fitness of his life before a Grand Tour.
However as the season went on he would ride into shape, and was holding both the mountains and points jerseys at the Vuelta a Espana as well as three stages. But, his Spanish adventure would come to a close after a bad crash that resulted in hurting his knee badly.
Not only did he have to quit the Vuelta, but it forced him to pull the plug on the road season.
“Wout van Aert will not race any more this season. He needs time to recover from his crash in the Vuelta a España. He suffered a serious knee injury that will require intensive care,” A brief statement read. “Van Aert stays in the hospital in Belgium, where he will receive intravenous antibiotics to minimize the risk of infection. He will then take a break to make a full recovery before cautiously setting his sights on the next season.”
📝 𝓐 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓶 😍 pic.twitter.com/TuzOfigzGA
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) September 18, 2024
Speaking of plug, Team manager Richard Plugge is thrilled to have the 30-year-old onboard for the long run.
“Wout is of course a fantastic rider with a great record. He is an all-rounder: a…
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