On the past Saturday, Marc Lamberts, Wout Van Aert’s head coach, delivered the news to the Belgian that he would not continue in his role alongside him due to his move to BORA-Hansgrohe, as reported by the Belgian digital magazine Knack.
“With the excuse that I wanted to discuss the training plan for 2024,” Lamberts reveals. “That was true, but I had another announcement. One that I definitely wanted to share face to face. I had planned not to cry, but I failed. Wout said he tried to play it tough, but it wasn’t easy for him either. Of course, after all these years.”
Van Aert has worked with Lamberts since he was seventeen years old. “I can still see him coming here in the summer of 2012, as a seventeen-year-old boy, 1 meter 70 centimeters tall and 63 kilograms, who at the time only aspired to a career in cross-country. That was the only goal at the time. I could already see that he had a big engine, but I had no idea that he would one day become one of the most important road cyclists.”
The coach has been with Jumbo-Visma for eight years.
Lamberts says that despite his departure, everything won’t change suddenly for Van Aert. “Every coach obviously has their emphasis, but everyone at Jumbo-Visma follows the same training philosophy. You won’t suddenly train in a completely different way. That reassures me. With every big win from Wout, I will continue to drink a glass of champagne. And I’m sure he will win many more. So there will be several glasses, hahaha.”
“Throughout my entire career, I have always needed a new challenge. I have worked for the largest pharmaceutical companies and have never stayed on board for more than five years. I haven’t worked for as long as I have at Jumbo-Visma, eight years, at any other company.”
