{"id":10164,"date":"2026-05-10T09:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/10164\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T09:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:43:07","slug":"wout-van-aert-enters-a-dutch-gravel-race-after-roubaix-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/10164\/","title":{"rendered":"Wout van Aert enters a Dutch gravel race after Roubaix win"},"content":{"rendered":"

All eyes are on the Giro d’Italia<\/a> this weekend, but it’s worth saving a little attention for the Netherlands too. On Sunday, a round of the UCI Gravel World Series<\/a> takes place in Limburg \u2014 and none other than Wout van Aert<\/a> will be on the start line, alongside world champion Florian Vermeersch<\/a>.Van Aert has not raced since his victory at Paris-Roubaix. After his iconic win at the V\u00e9lodrome in Roubaix<\/a>, the Belgian took a break to build his way back to top form for the Tour de France \u2014 though that doesn’t mean he’s been sitting still. last week he turned up in the Netherlands for a multi-day bikepacking trip with friends<\/a>.But it seems the race itch has got the better of the Visma | Lease a Bike<\/a> Belgian, who has decided to lace up his race shoes again \u2014 not for a road race, but for a gravel<\/a> event. The Marly Grav Race<\/a> in Limburg covers 150 kilometres and starts on the Cauberg climb, with a 46-kilometre loop ridden three times.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"florian-vermeersch\"\/Wiebes, Nieuwenhuis and co also on the start lineVan Aert is far from the only big name on the start list. Vermeersch will be there too. The Belgian won the gravel world title last year \u2014 and where was that championship held? Right here, in Limburg. Other major names set to start include Joris Nieuwenhuis<\/a>, Greg Van Avermaet, Daan Soete, Niels Vandeputte, Jasper Ockeloen, Mathijs Loman and Michael Vanthourenhout.On the women’s side, the world champion is also in the field. Lorena Wiebes<\/a> rode her last race at the Amstel Gold Race and will be back on the road on 16 May at the Omloop der Kempen, but first she is making a pit stop to show off her rainbow jersey \u2014 the one she claimed in Limburg after a truly extraordinary race<\/a>, in which the Dutch women made life very difficult for each other.’If it fits his schedule, Mathieu van der Poel will come one day \u2014 you can count on it’It is a sign of the Netherlands’ growing status as a gravel nation. “This is the fourth edition and we want to grow into a classic,” race founder Danny Nelissen tells De Telegraaf<\/a>. “We have all the ingredients for that \u2014 a fantastic course and all the facilities to go with it. This is the ‘Tuscany’ of the Netherlands, and last year our participants voted us the best gravel race in the World Series.”Attracting world champions Vermeersch and Wiebes \u2014 who lives in Limburg \u2014 and, above all, Wout van Aert<\/a> represents a major step forward for the race. Two years ago it was Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> who wore the gravel world champion’s rainbow jersey. He will not be racing on Sunday, but Nelissen, himself a Limburger, has no doubt about the future. “If it fits his schedule, Mathieu van der Poel will come one day \u2014 you can count on it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes are on the Giro d’Italia this weekend, but it’s worth saving a little attention for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[254,6055,6056,8505,8504,6,6815,6813],"class_list":{"0":"post-10164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-netherlands","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-florian-vermeersch","10":"tag-gravel","11":"tag-joris-nieuwenhuis","12":"tag-lorena-wiebes","13":"tag-netherlands","14":"tag-visma-lease-a-bike","15":"tag-wout-van-aert"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}