vingegaard van aert For the top riders of Visma | Lease a Bike, the start of the new season is getting closer and closer. Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard will both begin their 2025 campaigns in February. Van Aert will make his first appearance at Clásica Jaén on February 17, followed two days later by Vingegaard joining him in Portugal for the Volta ao Algarve.
This isn’t the first time Van Aert has chosen this schedule to kick off his season. "Last year was my first time racing these events," he says on the Killer Bees website . In 2024, he took his first victory of the season in Portugal. "It turned out to be the perfect preparation for the Flemish Opening Weekend. I finished third in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne."*
With that early success in mind, Van Aert is sticking to almost the same schedule—the only change being that he is skipping Clásica de Almería. "We thought it would be a good idea to include Clásica Jaén and Volta ao Algarve in my program again. I think they are beautiful races with a lot of variety, where I can test myself immediately. A gravel race always gets my heart racing."
Read more below the photo! Van Aert and Vingegaard together in the Algarve
"The Volta ao Algarve will have a bit of everything," Van Aert continues. "There are a few stages where I see opportunities to win, but the main goal is to take another step […]
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