Can Cycling’s Unluckiest Star Finally Catch a Break at Flanders and Roubaix?

Wout van Aert is back on the bike and back on schedule for the spring monuments that have too often slipped through his fingers.

Just weeks after undergoing surgery for a fractured ankle sustained in a December cyclocross crash, the Belgian star is again training on Spanish roads and remains penciled in to hit all the major dates this spring in yet another remarkable comeback that keeps his 2026 classics campaign intact.

Team officials at Visma-Lease a Bike have quietly confirmed that Van Aert’s recovery is tracking faster than expected.

Van Aert, however, revealed that he’s still far from 100 percent.

“I am still behind where I want to be due to the injury,” Van Aert said on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. “I had to pull my foot out of the pedal with my hand because unclipping hurt a lot on my first rides.”

His season debut is still penciled in for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, followed by a run through Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, largely mirroring the plan drawn up before his winter setback.

The bigger question is not whether Van Aert will start those races, but how close he will be to full race condition when he lines up against the sport’s top superstars.

“The people who have guided me are confident that it will be OK,” Van Aert told Sporza at the recent team camp. “Cycling is a movement in which you are quite fixed. A lateral movement would have been more difficult. I hope they are right and that I don’t have to call this up as an excuse after Paris-Roubaix.”

The cautious optimism inside the team bus is that even if March comes a touch too soon, the real targets remain the April double of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

He’ll still have to get past heavyweights Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar, but a healthy Van Aert could make the northern monuments even more thrilling.

Videos posted on Instagram over the weekend show Van Aert pedaling smoothly through his Spanish training block to confirm his recovery is tracking well.

Back on track in Spain

Van Aert’s winter injury could have unraveled his entire spring, and it looks to be the latest chapter in his career-long reputation for resilience and gritty determination.

The crash came in the snowy December cyclocross race in Mol, where he tore ankle ligaments and suffered a small fracture that ultimately required surgery.

Ten days later, Van Aert was already spinning lightly on the road. Now in Spain, the signs are increasingly encouraging. That means no cyclocross world championships in February but there’s still hope he’ll race Omloop at the end of the month.

Despite wearing an ankle brace when he’s walking earlier, the injury does not appear to impede his pedaling stroke too much. Photos and video clips shared on Instagram from Visma-Lease a Bike’s camp show Van Aert apparently riding without any significant setbacks.

He’s been posting six-hour rides in Spain and the pain is steadily diminishing.

“I can almost walk normally again,” he said in the latest podcast interview. “I can accelerate a bit out of the corners, so it’s getting better. The swelling has reduced a lot.”

Van Aert admitted the scare could have been even worse, but said he quickly shifted his focus forward.

“That support is nice from fans, but I had hoped from the beginning that it would not be too bad,” he told Sporza. “We thought it was ‘only’ the ligaments, but there was another fracture too. That required surgery, but I tried to look ahead as soon as possible.”

He’s already looking toward a quality Italian swing. Van Aert has confirmed he hopes to race both the slightly shorter Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, two races he’s won but skipped in recent seasons.

“After my victory in Siena during last year’s Giro d’Italia, I realized that Strade Bianche, despite the changes to the course, still suits my qualities very well,” Van Aert said. “I consider Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo to be among the most beautiful races of the season, so I definitely don’t want to miss them in 2026.”

For Van Aert, it’s the unfinished business that lies deeper on the spring calendar at Flanders and Roubaix that keep the engines burning.

“Flanders and Roubaix? I have always been close, and that strengthens my confidence that one day it can work out,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, I really enjoyed trying it every time. I’ve said it many times: if I can’t believe it, who can?”

Flanders route set for Van Aert’s ultimate dream

The confirmation of the Tour of Flanders route on Tuesday added a fresh finish line for Van Aert’s spring ambitions.

Race officials revealed final details for the Belgian monument, which will again start in Antwerp and feature an unchanged core that promises another brutal showdown on the bergs of Belgium.

Van Aert’s name stands out on the provisional start list alongside Pogačar, Lotte Kopecky, and Van der Poel, who is chasing outright ownership of the race’s all-time win record.

For the men, the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont comes 136km from the finish. The finale ignites with 45km to go on the Koppenberg, with the Mariaborrestraat, Taaienberg, and Oude Kruisberg stacked up in quick succession.

As always, the race should play out in the decisive Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg double, with the final summit just 13km from the line in Oudenaarde.

The lineup beyond the WorldTour 18 for the men’s race includes Cofidis, Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling, and Tudor Pro Cycling based on points, with Burgos-BH, Flanders-Baloise, TotalEnergies, and Unibet Rose Rockets seeing invites.

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, despite making its pro debut this week at the AlUla Tour, did not receive an invitation, but will race the UAE Tour next month.

For Van Aert, the Flanders-Roubaix dream remains just that. But the belief is intact.

“Winning a monument in 2026 would be the icing on the cake of my career,” he said. “Above all, I hope to be able to race a consistent season. The past few years have had their ups and downs, so my biggest dream is simply a carefree season. If that happens, the results will follow naturally.”

After another winter of woe, Van Aert is once again daring to believe.