Flags no longer exist? In cycling, perhaps this is not the case, as long as they respond to the name of Wout van Aert. With a video and a letter on social media, the Belgian champion has announced that he will continue to race until the end of his career at Visma Lease a Bike. “This is my team, this is my family and this is where I will stay until the end. Our journey so far is full of precious memories. I feel the warmth of the special stages of the Tour and the joy of victories, like the Vuelta, my first monument in San Remo, the Strade Bianche, the sprint on the Champs-Elysées, Mont Ventoux and that unforgettable sprint against Viviani: that was my very first victory at the Tour. But also the pain of defeats and setbacks like the crash in the time trial in Pau and Dwars door Vlaanderen this year. Together we overcame those difficult moments and came back stronger…” And so, having denied the rumors that he wanted to join Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, Van Aert becomes the face and soul of Visma, the leader, the point of reference for those who ride alongside him. The Belgian, who has been with Visma since 2019, was due to expire in 2026 and has been renewed indefinitely. “This has never happened in our sport, but we both didn’t have to think about it for long,” he explained. Richard Plugge CEO of Visma Lease a Bike – Wout is an all-rounder: a sprinter, a classic rider, a time trialist and on his best days he also wins a mountain stage. But above all he has become an important culture bearer, an indispensable link in our team. He is a leader and a team player. He also makes others better precisely through his intuition and his charisma.” And here lies the point, the secret of a symbiosis that, as the Belgian press explains, goes beyond the normal relationship between employer and employee. Van Aert feels at home at Visma and Visma sees in Van Aert something more than just a rider, a man who will most likely remain in the team even when he stops cycling. “Such a long contract means that there may already have been discussions about a possible managerial role for Van Aert after his active career – speculate the commentators of Sporza – And Van Aert is also working on this and has been looking beyond his cycling career for a long time, you can also tell from his interviews…”. And yesterday morning in Hasselt, where the Belgian champion showed up still on crutches at an event on safe cycling, he let it slip a little: “It’s going well, but two weeks have passed and I’m still on crutches,” he explained. “It’s not what you hoped for, the fall at the Vuelta had more serious consequences than it seemed at first. But now I’ve also turned 30 and so you ask yourself a few questions: how long do I want to continue as a cyclist? So we decided together not to set an end date for my career and to make a long-term commitment. I’m really happy, I’m very proud…”