Heartbreaking News: wout van aert will mis the rest of this season

Wout van Aert to stay with Team Visma | Lease a Bike until the end of his career
Wout van Aert and Team Visma | Lease a Bike will continue their partnership for the long term. Van Aert has extended his contract with the team, which was set to expire in 2026, until the end of his career. “This is unique in our sport, but we both didn’t have to think long about that”, says Richard Plugge, CEO of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Van Aert came to the then Team Jumbo-Visma in 2019 and became one of the team’s culture carriers. He recorded major victories including nine Tour de France stages and three Vuelta a España stages. The 30-year-old rider wrote several big races to his name such as Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche, Omloop het Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne this year. He is a multiple Belgian champion, triple world cyclo-cross champion and won a bronze medal in the time trial at the Paris Olympics this year.

Richard Plugge: “Wout is of course a fantastic rider with a great palmares. He is an all-rounder: a sprinter, a classic rider, a time trialist and on his best days he also wins a mountain stage like the famous victory on Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France. But besides that, Wout has really become an important culture carrier, an indispensable link in our team. He is a leader and a team player. He is a rider who also makes others in the team better, just through his insights and charisma. We are extremely happy with him and fortunately that is mutual.”

Wout van Aert: “I didn’t have to think long when this idea came up. First of all, because at Team Visma | Lease a Bike we work with the best people and the best equipment. Together we are constantly looking for improvement, which means we keep developing individually but also as a team. I owe a lot of success to that, we really do it together. But apart from that, I feel very much at home in this team, which is very important to me. This team is unique and has suited me for five years and I want to keep it that way. That’s why I decided to stay here forever, and that feels really good.”