Is Van Aert training in the Netherlands for the Belgian and World Gravel Championships? Campenaerts seems to reveal "secret goal"

After the Tour of Germany, Van Aert will head to Canada to ride the GP Quebec and GP Montreal in September. Whether that will be the end of the road season for the man from Herentals remains to be seen. But Campenaerts knows more than the average fan. “Main goal not listed, remains a secret for now?” was Vocsnor's response to Sporza's Instagram post about Van Aert's program.

The 30-year-old cyclo-cross rider responded with a reassuring emoji: it is now clear that Van Aert has a major goal for this fall. This has sparked the rumors. Sporza mentions the Belgian gravel championships, which will be held in Westerlo on August 17. “I would like to participate in the Belgian championships, but it's not just up to me,” Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad last week.

We won't know for sure until later, but the Belgian is certainly busy training. Last Wednesday, Van Aert completed a nearly 120-kilometer ride, crossing the Dutch border. And on that ride, he definitely rode on unpaved roads a few times: Via Baarle-Nassau, Van Aert arrived at Alphen and Chaam, where he dove into the Chaamse Bossen. And the roads there are definitely not paved...

It's not easy to find training routes on gravel and unpaved roads. Van Aert named his bike ride on Strava ‘Lang moeten zoeken', meaning: searching long and hard for nice unpaved roads? It could well be. The Belgian Championships may not be his main goal: on October 11 and 12, the World Gravel Championships will take place in Limburg. Reigning world champion Mathieu van der Poel has already given a subtle hint that he will participate.