‘A proper immunity booster’: Van Aert and teammates enjoy a tough gravel ride

Wout van Aert is nearly back on the road. The Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike will line up on 7 June for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, the new Dauphiné. Until then, he is preparing in Spain for what is still to come this year, and on Sunday that included a tough training ride. With Matteo Jorgenson, Bruno Armirail and Edoardo Affini, Van Aert also spent some time on Spanish gravel.

"That kind of training day," was what Wout Van Aert posted on his Instagram story on Sunday. The accompanying video showed the Visma | Lease a Bike riders enthusiastically turning right, and heading onto the Spanish gravel.

We also saw the Strava file appear on Sunday. "That was a proper immunity booster," read the fitting title. The ride in and around Granada was no less than 181 kilometres long and took 6 hours and 16 minutes.

It was not only the unpaved sections, where Van Aert had some lovely pictures to show on the Strava activity, that made Sunday a challenge. The ride also included just over 4,000 metres of climbing. A tough training day, then, for Van Aert, Jorgenson, Affini and Armirail!