Ineos Grenadiers has entered the race to sign Wout van Aert, and the Belgian rider is still in talks with the British team despite Jumbo-Visma hoping to get their rider to sign to a new contract within the next week or two.
This is according to the Dutch website Wielerflits, who reports that Ineos first made contact with Van Aert ‘s management at the Tour de France 2020, where the 26 – year – old won two stages and showed his super domestique abilities coming off the back of Strade Bianche and Milan – San Remo.
While both parties continue to talk, with Van Aert’s price tag soaring sharply after the 2020 dominant season, it is understood that Belgium are happy at Jumbo-Visma, the team that he chose over Ineos when he joined the WorldTour in 2019.
Having signed Tom Pidcock for the 2021 season, the British team has shown that their top talent can combine a combination of road and bike ambitions, which would also be fitting for Van Aert, the three-time world champion. .
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Along with Pidcock, Ineos has recruited strongly ahead of the 2021 season, including Adam Yates, Dani Martínez and Laurens De Plus, as well as bringing back Richie Porte. With the likes of Chris Froome leaving, the richest team in the peloton will have even more salary budgets to sign the strongest riders.
After winning the ‘Flandrien of the year’ award from the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Van Aert won the ‘Kristallen Fiets’ for best Belgian cyclist, as well as being voted ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in Belgium.
Van Aert scored twice as many points as second-placed footballer Romelu Lukaku and third-place Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Remco Evenepoel.
Belgium will feature for the UCI cyclocross World Cup in Namur this weekend, competing against rival Mathieu van der Poel for the first time this winter.