{"id":120291,"date":"2026-05-10T22:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/van-aert-makes-winning-return-to-racing-a-month-after-roubaix\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:06:22","slug":"van-aert-makes-winning-return-to-racing-a-month-after-roubaix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/van-aert-makes-winning-return-to-racing-a-month-after-roubaix\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Aert Makes Winning Return to Racing a Month After Roubaix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>Fan favorite Wout van Aert roars back weeks after defeating Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border-border-light border-t py-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"flex h-4 justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"\"><button class=\"inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full hover:cursor-pointer bg-bg-surface hover:bg-bg-light focus:bg-bg-dark text-primary border border-solid border-border-light aria-pressed:bg-brand-primary aria-pressed:text-text-surface py-very-tight px-base-tight gap-tight font-semibold font-utility-2 opacity-50\" aria-label=\"Loading audio\" aria-pressed=\"false\" id=\"article-listen-button\" disabled=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\" fill=\"none\" class=\"\"><title>Listen to this article<\/title><path d=\"M12.5265 16.2C12.2326 16.2 12.0122 16.1265 11.7184 16.053C11.2775 15.9061 10.9102 15.6122 10.6898 15.2449C10.4694 14.8775 10.3959 14.4367 10.5428 13.9959L11.5714 10.3959C11.6449 10.1755 11.7184 9.95509 11.8653 9.80815C12.0122 9.66121 12.1592 9.51427 12.3796 9.36733C12.6 9.29386 12.8204 9.2204 13.0408 9.14693C13.2612 9.14693 13.4816 9.14693 13.702 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10.249H4.37142C3.9306 10.3959 3.63672 10.6898 3.41631 11.0571C3.26938 11.351 3.19591 11.7184 3.26938 12.0857C3.34285 12.3061 3.34284 12.5265 3.41631 12.6735L3.71019 13.849ZM13.2612 10.3224C13.1877 10.3224 13.1877 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224C13.1143 10.3224 13.0408 10.3224 12.9673 10.3959C12.8939 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694C12.7469 10.5428 12.7469 10.6163 12.7469 10.6898L11.7184 14.2898C11.6449 14.4367 11.7184 14.5837 11.7918 14.7306C11.8653 14.8775 12.0122 14.951 12.0857 15.0245C12.3796 15.0979 12.5265 15.0979 12.7469 15.0979C12.9673 15.0979 13.1877 15.0245 13.3347 14.8775C13.5551 14.8041 13.702 14.6571 13.849 14.4367C13.9959 14.2898 14.0694 14.0694 14.1428 13.849L14.5102 12.6735C14.5837 12.5265 14.5837 12.3061 14.6571 12.1592C14.7306 11.7918 14.6571 11.4245 14.5102 11.1306C14.2898 10.7633 13.9959 10.4694 13.5551 10.3224H13.4816C13.3347 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"hidden sm:inline\">Listen<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">Wout van Aert won Paris-Roubaix and, one month later, took the Marly Grav race, part of the UCI&#8217;s Gravel World Series (Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat \/ AFP)<!-- --> (Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published May 10, 2026 04:06PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Four weeks after he won on the dust and cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, Wout van Aert returned to racing and was victorious again in somewhat similar conditions.<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian star put in a storming 22km solo to win the Marly Grav gravel race in the Netherlands, part of the UCI\u2019s World Gravel series.<\/p>\n<p>He used the same skills that stood to him in Roubaix, blending raw power with superb bike handling skills in the 150km race. There was another similarity, of sorts: he was up against a UAE Emirates-XRG rider sporting a rainbow jersey, although in this case it was world gravel champ Florian Vermeersch rather than Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n<p>Van Aert is, of course, a multiple world cyclocross champion, which also came in useful.<\/p>\n<p>The Visma-Lease a Bike rider kicked clear to drop Vermeersch, Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team), Jonathan Vervenne (Soudal Quick-Step) and Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a really tough race, but at the same time I enjoyed it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy main goal today was to stay out of trouble. I tried to stay near the front the whole time to avoid risks as much as possible. When there were eventually six of us left, it became a lot easier, because we no longer had to fight for our positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt I still had something left in the tank and tried to accelerate on one of the tougher sections. That was a good moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once clear Van Aert fended off the efforts of those behind to haul him back, driving hard over the remaining distance to the finish. He ended up 44 seconds clear of Vandeputte and a further second ahead of Ottema and Vermeersch. Over 100 riders took part.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>World champion Wiebes wins<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_985486\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img alt=\"Lorena Wiebes won the women's event at the Marly Grav race, part of the UCI's Gravel World Series (Photo: Jasper Jacobs \/ Belga Mag via AFP)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-985486\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2269318498.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2269318498.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Lorena Wiebes won the women\u2019s event at the Marly Grav race, part of the UCI\u2019s Gravel World Series (Photo: Jasper Jacobs \/ Belga Mag via AFP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite his cross background, Van Aert has little history of gravel racing. He did some events in 2023, winning the Houffa Gravel race in Belgium, another UCI Gravel World Series race. He also rode the Gravel World Championships, although he had to be happy with eighth place.<\/p>\n<p>The welcome news for racing fans is that he will be back for more in future events.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was fun racing here. It\u2019s a completely different kind of race to what I\u2019m used to,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be able to compete in such a fair race and put my off-road skills to good use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll definitely be taking part more often.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also competing Sunday was SD Worx-Protime rider Lorena Wiebes, who won the women\u2019s race in a sprint ahead of Larissa Hartog (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing), Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance \u2013 Soudal Team) and two others.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s the reigning women\u2019s world champion in the discipline and was also making a return to racing following a break from competition.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Marly Grav Race Results, Netherlands:<\/h3>\n<p><iframe class=\"fp-remove\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.procyclingstats.com\/widgets\/result.php?h=78cc281d54ec64467c7f1db452ec93b9389db24f\" width=\"520\" height=\"320\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"fp-remove\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.procyclingstats.com\/widgets\/result.php?h=855a3f4c287de96659434531f492fec5ecce75bf\" width=\"520\" height=\"320\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-racing\/van-aert-winning-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fan favorite Wout van Aert roars back weeks after defeating Tadej Poga\u010dar. Listen to this articleListen Wout van Aert won Paris-Roubaix and, one month later, took the Marly Grav race, part of the UCI&#8217;s Gravel World Series (Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat \/ AFP) (Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT) Published May 10, 2026 04:06PM Four weeks after he won [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}