The Visma | Lease a Bike leader had everything lined up on the third and final day of the Joyride Festival on Ibiza: a warm island, two former professionals on his wheel, a video crew filming for Sigma Sports, and a Strava segment belonging to the retired Spaniard Alejandro Valverde. Then a squirrel got in the way.

Wout van Aert’s own explanation, posted on Strava after the ride on 17 October and picked up by Dutch cycling site In De Leiderstrui, was five words long: “KOM attempt ruined by a squirrel.”

A luxury festival, a very serious attempt

The Joyride Festival is a four-day paid cycling retreat on Ibiza organised by LeBlanq Tours, reported by Wielerflits to cost from £2,650 per person at entry level and at least £4,000 for the packages that guarantee a pro rides alongside paying guests. The 2026 edition, held 15-18 October, drew Van Aert, Marianne Vos, Johan Museeuw and Marcel Kittel.

On the island’s last day, Van Aert used one of the group rides to chase down a Valverde-held KOM, flanked by former sprinter Adam Blythe and ex-pro turned presenter Matt Stephens. The pair filmed the attempt for the Sigma Sports YouTube channel.

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The segment stayed in Valverde’s name. The squirrel, as far as anyone has reported, kept its KOM too.

Back to work

The light moment caps a quiet month on the bike for Van Aert. His October Strava log shows 716.3 km and 4,573 m of climbing across 25 hours 11 minutes of riding, with the three Ibiza days covering roughly 30, 97 and 64 kilometres. Back in Belgium he logged a 95 km ride with Jan Bakelants and, later, a training route around Lille whose shape he described as “a sort of Charizard.”

He has confirmed he will race cyclocross through the 2026-2027 winter, without yet naming specific events.

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