{"id":1790393,"date":"2026-02-24T08:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790393"},"modified":"2026-02-24T08:03:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:03:04","slug":"wout-van-aert-returns-from-injury-at-omloop-as-monument-quest-resumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790393","title":{"rendered":"Wout van Aert Returns from Injury at Omloop as Monument Quest Resumes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z8D_8724.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-wrap fp-contentTarget\">\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"mb-base-loose flex flex-wrap gap-(--spacing-base)\"><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-start gap-(--spacing-base-tight)\"><span class=\"font-utility-2 font-bold text-primary\">Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><\/div>\n<div class=\"pub-date font-utility-2 text-secondary\">Updated February 24, 2026 09:11AM<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-base-loose\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The only thing better than the return of the spring classics at the \u201cOpening Weekend\u201d of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne?<\/p>\n<p class=\"aspect-video\">\n<p>The fact that Wout van Aert will be there.<\/p>\n<p>Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed its beloved Belgian will return to the peloton Saturday at the Omloop in what will be his first race since he was sidelined from the cyclocross winter with a fractured ankle.<\/p>\n<p>The 31-year-old \u2013 a former winner of the prestigious cobblestone season-opener \u2013 will co-lead the Killer Bees with rising Brit Matthew Brennan.<\/p>\n<p>Christophe Laporte, who enjoyed a hot start to the season after a terrible 2025, has also been passed fit after he crashed out of the final stage of the Ruta del Sol.<\/p>\n<p>Van Aert will skip Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on the \u201cOpening Sunday\u201d this weekend and return on Tuesday at Le Samyn. A showdown with Tadej Poga\u010dar at Strade Bianche awaits him just days later on Saturday, 7 March.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placeholder-wrapper relative w-full border-t border-b border-border-light col-span-full my-3 md:col-span-10 md:col-start-2\">\n<div class=\"mb-[30px] min-h-[30px] text-center\"><span class=\"font-utility-4 font-medium tracking-[1px] text-neutral-500 uppercase\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-placeholder -mt-[30px] mb-[30px] flex min-h-[250px] w-full items-center justify-center\">\n<div class=\"w-full \">\n<div id=\"in-content-leaderboard-I0-P0-CMI0\" class=\"flex justify-center text-left\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>And as if Van Aert\u2019s return wasn\u2019t good enough, there\u2019s a high chance his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel will also be at the startline of Saturday\u2019s Omloop.<\/p>\n<p>Alpecin-Premier Tech is yet to confirm its leader\u2019s schedule, however, speculation is rife that the cobble-hungry Dutchman could open his road season on a newly revised Omloop course which should tilt race dynamics directly in his favor.<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-embed\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"nl\" dir=\"ltr\">The wait is almost over! 4 nights sleep until opening weekend \u231b\ud83e\udd29<\/p>\n<p>This is our team for Omloop het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and Le Samyn. \ud83d\udc1d#OHN26 #KBK26 #gpsamyn pic.twitter.com\/AqDDaM22q4<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) February 24, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Van Aert races for training on the road to Flanders and Roubaix<\/h2>\n<p>The question is, what version of Van Aert will show up Saturday?<\/p>\n<p>His winter training was torpedoed when he fractured his ankle in an icy cyclocross crash in December.<\/p>\n<p>While he was able to return to full training volume relatively fast, he reported struggling to train at full intensity for multiple weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Van Aert is at full power or not on Saturday, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is merely a stepping stone.<\/p>\n<p>As with every other season of his career, his Grail is months down the road in the \u201cHoly Week\u201d of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>\n<p>Van Aert\u2019s return is the second piece of good news in two days for the embattled Visma-Lease a Bike team. Jonas Vingegaard confirmed Monday he\u2019s added Paris-Nice to his calendar as he fast-tracks his fitness after a botched start to the season.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"mb-base-loose flex flex-wrap gap-(--spacing-base)\"><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-start gap-(--spacing-base-tight)\"><span class=\"font-utility-2 font-bold text-primary\">Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><\/div>\n<div class=\"pub-date font-utility-2 text-secondary\">Updated February 24, 2026 09:11AM<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-base-loose\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/wout-van-aert-returns-from-injury-at-opening-weekend\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z8D_8724.jpg&#8221;] Jim Cotton Updated February 24, 2026 09:11AM The only thing better than the return of the spring classics at the \u201cOpening Weekend\u201d of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne? The fact that Wout van Aert will be there. Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed its beloved Belgian will return to the peloton Saturday at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1790393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1790393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1790393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1790393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1790393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}