Jetlag? Wout van Aert immediately dives into Belgian gravel, draws a whale and soothes homesickness

Wout van Aert is back on Belgian soil! The superstar of Visma | Lease a Bike spent a week in America for a solid sponsorship trip, but the focus can be turned back to the cross-winter in his home country. For that, Van Aert dove straight into the mud, openly requesting a new route in the area.

The contrast must have been great, no doubt, when Van Aert was back in Belgium after an American trip to California. There he met several sponsors, enjoyed the sun, threw a ball with NBA star Reggie Miller, tore around in a Porsche and shared his cycling knowledge in several bike rides along the warm Santa Monica coast.

In Belgium, no glitz, glamour and sun, but the increasing cold. Van Aert, with his love of cross country, must have laughed it off, because he immediately took to the Belgian gravel with friends. Together with Daan Soete and Jan Bakelants, they designed a glorified gravel route of over 100 kilometers. 'Hey meta, make a gravel loop please,' Van Aert jokingly wrote with his Strava file.

Also on Monday, Van Aert fought the after-effects of American jet lag with more than 90 kilometers on the counter around Herentals. He spent more than 2.5 hours on the bike, creating a course that he said resembled a whale. Even the characteristic tail was worked out in detail for Strava at the start and finish.

To ease the nostalgia for Los Angeles a bit more, Van Aert's fans were also treated to a final photo update. In it we see some more pictures of the basketball court, the Porsche and a game of the LA Lakers. But we also see first images of a photo shoot, a delicious menu full of good steaks and finally images of the Belgian gravel ride.

On to the cross, Wout!