Emotions were running high for Toon Aerts after he won the men's elite race at the European Cyclocross Championships on Sunday, not just because he had taken a major win, but because it was his biggest, landmark win after returning from a doping suspension.
Aerts, 32, returned to competition in February of 2024 after being banned for two years after the banned substance letrozole was found in his system in 2022. The Belgian spent more than a year trying to fight the provisional suspension, arguing that the substance came into his body via a contaminated substance.
The argument saw his ban lessened from a potential four years to two, but he was still suspended in 2023.
He made a return to road and cyclocross racing in 2024, and took one minor win during the 2024-25 season, but on Sunday, he soared to his biggest result since his return, out-sprinting the defending champion Thibau Nys to claim the European title.
Aerts could not hold back his tears as he was interviewed after the race and on the podium, explaining that the win marked a turning point in his career.
"My second career begins today," he said. "A lot has happened in recent years. I didn't expect it all to fall into place. It hasn't been an easy time, but I made all those sacrifices for this."
Aerts was previously European champion in 2016 and has taken three World Cup victories during his career. Though he has won since his return and taken countless top 10s, Sunday's win was a particular high point.
"This is different. Perhaps the greatest victory of my career," he said to Het Laatste Nieuws.
"I'm proud of the story I have to tell here. Of course, it hasn't been easy. And at times I pushed through against my better judgment. But for this, I gritted my teeth. At times, I was at my wit's end. But I kept my head above water."
Aerts has faced other setbacks since the start of this year's cyclocross season, with a crash and a broken chain disrupting his efforts at the Superprestige rounds in Ruddervoorde and Overijse, but spoke about how ending up on the back foot actually helped on Sunday.
"I was racing too much based on aggression, which I'd built up over the previous years. That's not always helpful, you're more likely to make mistakes," he said. "I had to fight back from a losing position. Then you're not thinking, 'I'm going to win here.' It's more like, 'Oh dear, what else can I do?'
"And suddenly, just two minutes from the finish, my feeling shifted to 'maybe it's my turn today'," he continued. "I thought: 'Come on, Toon, this is your moment, seize it.'"
Seize it he did, edging out the faster on paper Nys to claim the win in Middelkerke.
"When it comes to the win, I've learned not to give it up," he said.
Aerts will now wear the white and blue stars jersey for the rest of the cyclocross season, where he is expected to race a full campaign with the Deschacht-Hens-FSP team.
