Toon Aerts’ performances inspire fellow cyclo-cross rider Lander Loockx at Unibet Rose Rockets

The combination of cyclo-cross rider and road racer has become almost completely normal by now, helped by superstars such as Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. Yet for many cyclo-cross specialists, it remains a difficult balance to strike, certainly at the very highest level. Lander Loockx is one of those riders at Unibet Rose Rockets, and he hopes to keep making progress on the road in the coming years.

Loockx joined TDT-Unibet in 2023 and was mainly active as a cyclo-cross rider at first, but he has increasingly started to show himself on the road as well. In 2025, he even took his first professional road victory by beating Paul Seixas in Paris-Camembert. This year, too, he has produced several strong performances, finishing fourth in both the Boucles de l’Aulne and the Tour du Finistère, as well as seventh overall in the Pays de la Loire Tour.

All of those results came in French races. “French one-day races do suit me,” Loockx told Het Nieuwsblad. “Because of the nature of the courses, we often go to the finish with a smaller group. On top of that, it is always nice and motivating when you achieve good results. Normally, I would also have taken part in Les Boucles de la Mayenne, but I fell ill.”

That illness hit him before he returned to racing at the Circuit Franco-Belge. “On Wednesday, I was still with the group of twenty that managed to get away after the Knokteberg. Unfortunately, we were still caught. With one and a half kilometres to go, I nearly crashed because of another rider and ended up in the grass. I was still able to come back just before the tough finish, but by then the best was gone.”

This coming Sunday, Loockx will ride the Muur Classic Geraardsbergen, after which he will take a short period of rest. “I would have liked to restart at the Baloise Belgium Tour. Unfortunately, the team did not select me for that, but that is simply part of the choices a team has to make. You certainly won’t hear me complain. I feel good here and I get a lot of opportunities.”

A Grand Tour debut has not happened yet, even though Unibet Rose Rockets took part in the Giro d’Italia. There, Loockx saw a compatriot and fellow cyclo-cross rider shine. “I have already been racing at a high level for quite some time. The big goal remains to one day be able to take part in a Grand Tour. Toon Aerts’ performances are an incentive. As a cyclo-cross rider, I naturally pay a little more attention to him than to an average colleague on the road.”

Whether a Grand Tour debut is on the way remains to be seen. This year, the French-Dutch team will not be on the start line of either the Vuelta a España or the Tour de France. On top of that, Loockx is often used as a card to play in one-day races. “The fact that I am more often selected for one-day races has to do with the fact that we focus more on those as a team. After all, it is one of the ways to collect the necessary UCI points.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]