Wout van Aert goes bikepacking in post-Roubaix break

With his iconic Paris-Roubaix victory already in the bag, Wout van Aert‘s season cannot go wrong. Even if he wins nothing else, it has already been a fantastic year for the Belgian. After his victory at the Vélodrome, he chose to take a break. He has spent the last few days in the Netherlands, working through a multi-day cycling trip with a group of friends.

The first day already covered a serious amount of ground. Setting off from Herentals, the group headed north, crossing the Dutch border at Huijbergen via Schoten and Kalmthout. They pushed on through Bergen op Zoom and finished in Schouwen-Duiveland, where the day’s endpoint lay close to the coast. 187 kilometres on day one, with just over six hours in the saddle, as shown on Strava.

Read on below the Strava data!

Van Aert unwinds at Neeltje Jans

Day two followed the Zeeland coast — not north this time, but south. Via Neeltje Jans the group looped around Middelburg, then took the ferry at Vlissingen. Back in the saddle, they continued along the coast before crossing back into Belgium to rest in Knokke. A slightly shorter ride this time: 125 kilometres in four hours and forty minutes.

Not every day needs to break the hundred-kilometre mark, though. The group spent a day in Knokke-Heist — because a quiet, relaxed day has its place too. A “jeans day”, as Van Aert himself calls it. The kind of day that also calls for a good sandwich from the local bakery — though that was hardly the exception. It comes with the territory on a trip like this.