Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert (born 15 September 1994) is a Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer who rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike. Van Aert won three consecutive men's races at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Having initially prioritised competing in cyclo-cross, Van Aert terminated his contract with Vérandas Willems–Crelan in 2018 and joined Team Jumbo–Visma in March 2019, on a three-year deal. Van Aert has since taken more than fifty professional road wins, including ten stage victories at the Tour de France between 2019 and 2025 (also winning the points classification in 2022), and two Monuments: Milan–San Remo (2020) and Paris-Roubaix (2026). Despite his many victories, van Aert's career has been noted for several close second place or podium finishes, with missed victories attributed to bad luck. As of April 2026, van Aert has seven second or third-place finishes in Monuments, and eleven silver or bronze medals across the Road and Cyclo-cross World Championships, and Olympics. Following the 2022 Tour de France, where Van Aert won three stages, several media outlets labeled him as "one of the most complete cyclists of his generation". His rivalry with Mathieu van der Poel in cyclo-cross is considered among the greatest and longest lasting rivalries in the sport.