{"id":952597,"date":"2026-05-11T12:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952597\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:33:26","slug":"is-more-gravel-racing-on-the-cards-for-wout-van-aert-last-minute-marly-grav-entry-ending-with-scorching-solo-win-piques-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952597\/","title":{"rendered":"Is more gravel racing on the cards for Wout van Aert? Last-minute Marly Grav entry ending with scorching solo win piques interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wout van Aert<\/a> may have been on a break from road racing since winning Paris-Roubaix, but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider was still quite happy to pin on a number in Limburg at the UCI Gravel World Series event, Marly Grav<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It may have been a last minute entry with the expectation of “just a lot of fun” \u2013 although that didn’t mean he skipped the pre-race recon ride \u2013 but he walked away with another victory after a solo sortie of more than 20km<\/a> and a renewed taste for gravel.<\/p>\n

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“It was a really tough race, but at the same time I enjoyed it,” said Van Aert in a team release.<\/p>\n

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“It was fun racing here. It\u2019s a completely different kind of race to what I\u2019m used to. It\u2019s great to be able to compete in such a fair race and put my off-road skills to good use.”<\/p>\n

It certainly wasn’t the first time the talented multi-discipline rider has taken on gravel, with Van Aert having raced Houffa Gravel and the UCI Gravel World Championships in 2023, where he came eighth after an untimely mechanicals and a crash in the opening 60 kilometers.<\/p>\n

Its now been a while since the Belgian has squeezed the discipline into his already busy schedule.<\/p>\n

“It just a nice opportunity to do a gravel race,” Van Aert told broadcaster TNT Sports<\/a> before the event<\/p>\n

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“We are so busy with all the WorldTour races and the preparation through the season that it’s not often that there is a race close by that I can attend so when I saw this on the calendar I thought why not?”<\/p>\n

The experience he had at the Dutch UCI Gravel World Series<\/a> race clearly was way better than that of the 2023 World Championships, with the aim on Sunday being to have “just a lot of fun. I don’t have any expectation because the last month was more holidays than proper training,” he told TNT Sports.<\/p>\n

Despite that he quickly went to the front of the race early and thinned the front of the race to a small lead group before shedding them all with a powerful acceleration that not even the gravel world champion, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) could claw his way back to.<\/p>\n

Ultimately he walked away from the day of racing with a clear-cut solo victory and a taste for the discipline that often draws retired and current WorldTour professionals alike.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll definitely be taking part more often,” concluded Van Aert.<\/p>\n

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\"Wout\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Marly Grav)
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