Van Aert prepares for cyclo-cross winter with a "beach vacation" and "annexes" Zeeland

Although it was not van Aert's most successful season, he did stay on his bike this year. That meant he was active from February to September, with appearances in the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and, of course, the classics. Brilliant victories in Paris and Siena made up for all the other disappointments of the year.

The fall was relatively short, and at the end of September, the 31-year-old from Herentals was able to take his well-deserved rest. He did so with two trips: first, he went to Disneyland Paris with his family, and then he flew to Rome with his wife. He relaxed in Italy, but van Aert knew that the cyclo-cross winter was just around the corner. So, when he returned from vacation, he got back on his bike.

Back on his bike—his first Strava-registered training session in a month—he described it as “sluggish,” but the three-time cyclo-cross world champion has now got back into the swing of things. Van Aert headed to Knokke-Heist in northern Belgium. On the North Sea coast, he completed several training laps, both on his bike and on foot.

On Monday, he did a short running training session through the Zwinduinen. At 6.7 kilometers, it wasn't very long, but it was still a good way to test his legs, with unpaved surfaces and an irregular, undulating course. But such a lap is not enough to keep van Aert busy: later that day, he got on his bike for a ride of just under 100 kilometers. He started in Belgium but also passed through Zeeuws-Vlaanderen —an “annexation,” as he called it.

The Belgian shared images from his beach stay on Instagram. Beautiful snapshots of fall forests, rides on the beach, and, of course, time with the family —it seems preparations for winter are going perfectly. Van Aert has kept a kind of photo diary every week in 2025.