{"id":648434,"date":"2026-05-05T02:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648434\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T02:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:30:13","slug":"the-king-thanked-me-on-behalf-of-all-belgians-he-said-he-was-proud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648434\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe King thanked me on behalf of all Belgians… he said he was proud\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

What followed was not a long or elaborate exchange, but its meaning was clear. \u201cThe King thanked me on behalf of all Belgians for delivering that performance. He said he was proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a rider who has experienced the biggest stages in cycling, the moment still stood out. \u201cI mainly listened. I didn\u2019t really know what to say. It doesn\u2019t happen often, but sometimes I\u2019m impressed too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reaction speaks to the broader significance of the win. Paris-Roubaix<\/a> is one of cycling\u2019s defining races, but Van Aert\u2019s victory carried added weight given the context of his career and the expectations that had built over recent seasons.A nation\u2019s reaction<\/p>\n

That sense of importance was reflected in the public response. Van Aert admitted he had been struck by the scale of the celebrations that followed, with supporters embracing the victory in ways that went far beyond the usual post-race reaction. \u201cThat I made so many people happy makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the many moments shared with him, one stood out in particular. \u201cThere\u2019s one video I saved. In a village near us, supporters have had a bet running for years: if I ever won Roubaix, they would cycle naked around the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Aert could only laugh at what that moment had sparked. \u201cI\u2019ve saved it on my phone. Show the video? I won\u2019t do that to them. They\u2019ll be shocked enough if they see this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning towards what comes next<\/p>\n

Despite the scale of the celebrations, the focus has already begun to shift back to racing. Van Aert is under no illusion that one victory, even one as significant as Roubaix, cannot define the rest of his season. \u201cI hope it works and that the Roubaix win wasn\u2019t everything all at once. I\u2019m still a cyclist and I still have a lot of motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

That motivation is already being directed towards the coming months, with clear targets set. \u201cFrom the Belgian Championships, I hope to be back in form. Especially the first weekend of the Tour is a very big goal for us as a team. If things go well there, I could be close to the yellow jersey. Those two things are definitely on my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further ahead, the plan is equally clear. \u201cI will ride the Vuelta as preparation for the World Championships. We\u2019ll start there without a clear leader, but Matthew Brennan and I hope to win stages.\u201d<\/p>\n

A brief pause before the next pushBefore that next phase begins, Van Aert has allowed himself a short reset. A recent bikepacking trip<\/a> offered a break from structured training, even if it came with a caveat. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the most serious training, but I really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The return to full preparation is already scheduled. \u201cNext week I leave for altitude training, then my preparation for the Tour really begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

A moment that reached beyond cycling<\/p>\n

The call from the King, the scenes across Belgium, and the stories shared in the days after the race all point to something larger than a single result.<\/p>\n

Paris-Roubaix may be one of cycling\u2019s most prestigious prizes, but for Van Aert, this victory has taken on a different dimension. Not just as a Monument win, but as a moment that connected with a nation.<\/p>\n

And as the reaction from Belgium\u2019s highest office made clear, it was a performance that did not go unnoticed.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What followed was not a long or elaborate exchange, but its meaning was clear. \u201cThe King thanked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,58563,82,130976,12290],"class_list":["post-648434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-paris-roubaix","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-wout-van-aert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}