Wout van Aert has returned to the site of his horror crash from Dwars door Vlaanderen last season, where he was left screaming in agony as his Classics season came to a painful end.
The Belgian was part of a large Visma-Lease a Bike group that explored the Flemish hills and cobbled roads he knows so well on a 97km route starting and finishing in Oudenaarde the finish location of the Tour of Flanders.
Throughout the ride, which Van Aert captioned "The everything-that-is-beautiful route" on his Strava, he and his teammates took in famous bergs such as the Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Valkenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
However, it's the run into the Kanarieberg which stood out on Visma's route, as the sweeping, fast road that precedes the climb's start, the N48 (Ninoofsesteenweg), is where Van Aert crashed hard in March and broke his collarbone and ribs.
The Kanarieberg is also where his teammates Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot got into the winning move at Dwars door Vlaanderen before the American went on to take a bittersweet victory.
They were both present on the ride, alongside Olav Kooij, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle, Per Strand Hagenes and several new young signings, Loe van Belle, Matthews Brennan, Menno Huising and under-23 world champion Niklas Behrens.
It was a typically wet Flandrien day on the cobbles and a "Kick off" to the 2025 Classics for Van Aert, who will be hoping for better luck come next spring and a cleaner run at both De Ronde and Paris-Roubaix, two huge races he has been a runner-up at but never won.
Last season was characterised by bad fortune for Van Aert, with his return from injury only arriving a month prior to the start of the Tour de France, where he was away from his in-time stage-winning best.
However, he did refind his best legs at a Vuelta a España debut late in the season, before he then crashed again and injured his new, ruling him out of the World Championships in Zürich.
That knee injury is also still affecting him to the point that he is unlikely to be seen in the cyclocross season until next year, according to Belgian media, as he is struggling to run.
However, that discipline had become something Van Aert only does in aid of his road season, his coach said last year, with a strong Classics and return to top form at the Tour de France likely the biggest goals for the versatile Belgian in the new year. Could 2025 finally be the year Van Aert wins The Ronde?
