Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert was born in 1994 in Herentals, Belgium, and began his professional road cycling career in 2013 with the Continental team Telenet-Fidea. From 2014 to 2018, he rode for the Continental team Crelan-Vastgoedservice, which was subsequently renamed Verandas Willems-Crelan. In 2019, he then switched to the World Tour team Jumbo-Visma, for which he currently rides - now under the name Visma | Lease a Bike.

Career of Wout van Aert

Van Aert is a cycling all-rounder. He is not only an excellent sprinter, but also one of the top time trialists and classics specialist. In hilly and mountainous terrain, he can also be an important helper for mountain and classification specialists. The Belgian has been particularly successful in one-day races and Tour de Francestages to celebrate his greatest successes.

2018

Van Aert celebrated his big breakthrough on the road in 2018, when he not only won the overall classification at the Tour of Denmark, but also a stage. He also came third at Strade Bianche and finished in the top ten at Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders.

2019

Wout van Aert switched to the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma for the 2019 season. He had no teething problems there and won two stages of the Criterium du Dauphine and then the 2nd and 10th stages of the Tour de France. This made him one of the best riders in the world.

2020

In 2020, he won the Milan-San Remo Monument, the Strade Bianche one-day race, a stage of the Criterium du Dauphine and two other stages of the Tour de France. He also took silver in the road race and time trial at the World Championships towards the end of the cycling year. At the Tour of Flanders, it was "only" enough for second place - here he was beaten by his great rival Mathieu van der Poel.

2021

The Belgian also took three more stage wins at the 2021 Tour de France. In the same year, he added successes at Gent-Wevelgem, the Amstel Gold Race and the Belgian championship title.

2022

In 2022, he won the spring classics Omloop het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Classic, two stages of the Criterium du Dauphine and three stages of the Tour de France. There he was also an important helper for his team captain Jonas Vingegaard to overall victory in the Tour of France and took the points jersey.

2023

In 2023, van Aert also helped his team-mate Jonas Vingegaard to overall victory in the Tour de France, but he did not compete in the 18th stage due to the birth of his child. He also celebrated success that year by winning the E3 Saxo Classic and the overall victory in the Tour of Britain.

2024

With a stage win at the Tour of the Algarve and a triumph at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, van Aert got off to a good start to the season and was well on the way to building up his form for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Van Aert then finished third in the E3 Saxo Classic. After a crash, however, he had to let his rival Mathieu van der Poel go. A few days later, van Aert went down again. This time he was involved in a mass crash at Dwars door Vlaanderenwhich caused the Belgian to fall heavily. As his team later announced, van Aert suffered several fractures in the crash.

Wout van Aert: Contract

In 2022, van Aert extended his contract with Visma | Lease a Bike for four years and is tied to the Dutch team until 2026.

Wout van Aert: Salary

Wout van Aert's salary is said to have been two million euros in 2023. This was reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, TotalVelo and Het Laatste Nieuws. This puts him in eighth place among cycling's top earners. In first place is two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, who is said to have earned six million in 2023.

Why is Wout van Aert wearing a Red Bull helmet?

Van Aert is one of three professional road cyclists who are individually sponsored by Red Bull. The Belgian therefore wears a Red Bull helmet at the races. The other two pros with such helmets are Thomas Pidcock and Anton Palzer. In the meantime, the beverage company no longer only acts as an individual sponsor, with its entry into the Bora-Hansgrohe an entire team is now supported.

Wout van Aert: Cyclocross

Van Aert is a multiple medallist at the Junior World and Junior European Cyclocross Championships. He won gold medals at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and also came second several times in subsequent years. This makes the Belgian one of the most successful cyclocross riders of recent years.

Van Aert on Instagram, Strava and X

Van Aert is also active on social media. On the popular Instagram platform, the Belgian gives his more than 1 million followers an insight into his life as a professional cyclist and his private life. He also regularly uploads his training and competition rides to Strava, a popular site among cyclists, where his 591,000 subscribers can follow his progress. The Belgian is also active on X - formerly Twitter - and keeps his almost 300,000 fans up to date with regular posts.

Wout van Aert: Family - wife and children

Van Aert has been married to Sarah De Bie since 2018. They have known each other since childhood. The couple have two sons together: Georges (born in 2021) and Jerome (born in 2023).