Wout van Aert solos to victory after impressive attack in Marly Grav

Wout van Aert said he mainly wanted to have fun, but on Sunday the Belgian simply won the gravel classic Marly Grav in an impressive fashion. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider decided just over twenty kilometers from the finish to unleash his full power and soloed to victory. Among the women, top favorite Lorena Wiebes took the win.

On Sunday, the gravel world champions Florian Vermeersch and Lorena Wiebes were finally able to show off their rainbow jerseys. Both returned this weekend to South Limburg, where they claimed their world titles last autumn. The Marly Grav course, the gravel classic of the Netherlands, partly ran over the unpaved roads that characterized their world championship race.

Vermeersch was one of the standouts among the men, but the biggest name at the start was definitely his compatriot Wout van Aert. For the Visma | Lease a Bike rider, this was his first race after that memorable Paris-Roubaix victory. A detour to the gravel circuit is not unusual for Van Aert. In August 2023, for example, he already claimed a gravel race victory in Houffalize in the Ardennes.

Elite group with Van Aert and Vermeersch
Van Aert decided before the start to keep expectations in check, but managed to survive the first selection. With about sixty kilometers to go, he was part of an initial elite group of seven riders in total, including world champion Vermeersch, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Niels Vandeputte, Jonathan Vervenne, Rick Ottema, and the relatively unknown German Georg Egger.

Not long after, Van Aert shook things up himself and immediately created a small gap. He seemed set for a long solo attack but decided not to extend his effort, allowing his fellow attackers—and the fallen Vermeersch—to catch back on.

Impressive Van Aert flames away
The six leaders—Egger had meanwhile been dropped—then kept each other in check. Everyone was waiting for the next acceleration from Van Aert, and it came. On the steeper sections of the forest path, just over twenty kilometers from the finish, Van Aert unleashed a scorching attack. Vermeersch saw it happen, but also saw all the colors of the rainbow and simply had to give way.

The unleashed Van Aert quickly built a large gap, and with that, the race took a decisive turn. Vermeersch, Eenkhoorn, Vandeputte, and a strong Ottema clearly had to acknowledge their defeat and fought for the remaining podium places in the rest of the race. Vandeputte sprinted to second place in a dying swans’ finish, ahead of Ottema, who rewarded his race with a podium spot.

Van Aert was no longer to be caught and soloed powerfully to his first gravel victory of the season. The Belgian also secured start licenses for the European and World Gravel Championships. Participation in the World Championships in distant Australia seems almost impossible for Van Aert, but the European Championships in Houffalize on Sunday August 30 could be a possibility.