Gravel world champion Florian Vermeersch wants to take next step in the Classics — with and without Tadej Pogacar

While more and more riders spend their winters completely resting in places like Dubai or the Maldives, Vermeersch headed to northern Vietnam. “One of the best experiences I’ve had in my life,” he says immediately. “If I could, I’d go back for three weeks again next year. My sister was there as an exchange student, so I visited her and used the trip to travel around.”

Vermeersch, who studies history, was fascinated by what he saw. “It’s absolutely worth it. There are still a lot of communist influences there, and that makes it interesting. I never felt unsafe for a moment. Sometimes they just look at you a bit strangely — like, what is this guy doing here — and they started touching my brakes because they didn’t understand how they worked. I really enjoyed it, and I genuinely took the time to enjoy it without thinking about racing.”

The Belgian also discovered what it is like to be a 1.93m-tall European among Vietnamese people who average around 1.62m. “Haha, I’ve got a funny story about that. I’d forgotten my flip-flops and wanted to buy some, but you couldn’t find anything bigger than a size 43 there. So I ended up walking around in flip-flops that were too small.”

After Vietnam came the standard work trips for a modern pro — and the goals for 2026 were set. “The programme looks pretty similar,” Vermeersch explains. “After Valencia, I’ll ride the UAE Tour and then almost all the Classics, from Omloop all the way through to Roubaix. The idea is to go to the Giro afterwards — a race that was still on my bucket list. It’s a tough programme, but a beautiful one. I think the combination of Classics and Giro should be doable.”

At Strade Bianche, Milano–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, UAE Team Emirates–XRG will start with Tadej Pogacar as the leader. In the other races, the rest of the squad will get opportunities. “I’m also doing all the other Classics,” says Vermeersch. “There aren’t many chances in spring, so it will have to be bang on. But you know that with Tadej in the team, he’s the leader if he’s there.”

“The promise is sporting freedom — that I can go for my own chance in those other races. The advantage in those races is that we start with several strong guys, so I’ll never demand full leadership. To win a race, you need specific scenarios. One-on-one with Mathieu or Wout, I’m often beaten, so you won’t hear me telling Nils Politt or Tim Wellens: you ride for me.”

So where does he see his best chances? “If everything goes perfectly for me, I should be able to fight for the win in an E3 or Dwars door Vlaanderen. Those are big goals for me, just like Opening Weekend. But that’s harder to judge: last year it ended in a sprint twice.”

Last year, Vermeersch was first reserve for the Tour de France, but the plan is different this time. “I won’t beat around the bush: I asked if the Tour was an option, but they chose other riders. They’ve had a successful formula in recent years with the same riders, so who am I to argue with that?”

“The nice thing about this team is that you start every grand tour with a contender, so I’m happy with the Giro,” says Vermeersch, who will begin the Giro d’Italia with João Almeida as team leader. “And it gives me the chance to race in summer events that really suit me, like the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Renewi Tour.”

When you say Vermeersch, you also say — beyond the Gravel World Championship — Paris-Roubaix. It’s the race where he broke through in 2021 by finishing second between Sonny Colbrelli and Mathieu van der Poel, and also the race where he was fifth in 2025. “When Mathieu attacked, I was three or four places too far back. That was my mistake in judgement, but that’s how it goes.”

If he had been in the right position, could the finale have unfolded differently? “The way they (Van der Poel and Pogacar) rode last year was a class apart. That’s almost impossible to bridge, but everyone watching also knows it’s not always just about the legs.”

In December, Vermeersch went north to France with his Slovenian leader. “His level is already so high. When I saw him riding again during the recon of the Classics… he just doesn’t break. Exceptional class. He’s genuinely interested as well and wants to test everything for Roubaix and so on. He’s working on that ‘big five’, but it’s not like it’s an obsession.”

Finally: Vermeersch won the Gravel World Championship title in South Limburg in October and even received a matching rainbow bike from Colnago. When will we see it in action? “I don’t yet know in which gravel race, but you’ll definitely see the jersey. The fact I’m doing the Giro opens opportunities for the period after that.”

It won’t be an adventure like Vietnam in a unique gravel race such as Unbound, even though Vermeersch has that event high on his bucket list. “That won’t happen this year. My road programme comes first, and it’s not an easy trip — it would take around two weeks — so I can’t expect the team to just allow that. I’d like to do the Worlds in Australia, and I’ll probably get that freedom too.”