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Wout van Aert from Team Visma | Lease a Bike is one of the most well-known riders in the peloton today. A little less well-known, however, is a 15-year-old Belgian junior named Wout Van Aert, who wants to build his own career in professional cycling and step out of the shadow of his superstar namesake.
Sporza was intrigued when he saw the remarkable name on the start list of some Belgian junior races and went in search of the young talent to find out more about the younger of the two Van Aerts. “I liked it at first,” he admits, speaking of the immediate comparisons to his namesake that arose early in his cycling career. “But when I register for a race they often remind me that I have the same name as the great Wout van Aert. This is a bit annoying, but not really bad. In the meantime, they know there’s someone else along for the ride with that name.”
It’s worth noting that although they share the same name, the younger Van Aerts was not named after the former Tour de France green jersey winner, nor have they ever met. “And we’re not distant relatives either,” he adds. “My family name is spelled with a capital ‘V’, not a smaller ‘V’ like professional cyclist Wout van Aert (whose grandparents are Dutch).”
As you can probably imagine, the teenager actually looks up to the Visma superstar. “Not only because I have the same name, but also because Wout van Aert always races to win. “So I thought it was a shame that Wout had so much bad luck last season,” he explains. “I’m not a fan of Mathieu van der Poel. I’m not against Van der Poel, I’m just for Van Aert.”
As mentioned, Wout Van Aert the Younger hopes that one day he might face his namesake, even though they have not yet met. “I don’t think Wout van Aert knows that another Wout Van Aert is starting. It would be amazing to meet my namesake and idol in real life.”
