Wout Van Aert is ready for the Tour de France. Just a few days after an extended training camp in the Sierra Nevada, the Belgian will travel to Switzerland for another round at altitude.

Van Aert, who has impressed in recent years at the Criterium du Dauphiné, will switch this year to the Tour de Suisse as his pre-Tour race.

The Belgian arrived in Switzerland early Thursday afternoon after a gravel bike ride in the Alps.

According to a file uploaded to his Strava account titled "Oops forgot to bring my road bike," he started and finished his ride halfway up the Bernina Pass at 2,000 meters above sea level.

Van Aert descended the valley, climbed a ski slope above St. Moritz that reached 2,500 meters above sea level, and then descended a gravel road along the shore of Lake Silvaplana.

He then continued his off-road pursuit, up and down the Roseg valley, up the Bernina Pass, and back to Diavolezza on the Swiss-Italian border where he was staying.

The ride took place in the vicinity of the hardest stage of this year's Tour de Suisse, with the all-important queen stage finishing in La Punto right under his nose.

Van Aert had just returned from the Sierra Nevada on May 28 after spending time in the Spanish mountains with his teammates, who were heading to the Tour de France on June 9, riding many kilometers at 3000 meters elevation.

Van Aert was a restless presence this year. Just a week after Paris-Roubaix, which ended in a painful flat tire, he took advantage of his spring break to go on a multi-day bikepacking trip.

According to the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Van Aert was in Switzerland with Wilco Kelderman and several members of the Jumbo Visma support staff, who had already chosen to gain altitude because of the lack of time after the Tour de Suisse. Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard and the Dauphiné riders will have a short pre-Tour camp after the Tour de Suisse race.

After riding the Tour de Suisse, which has two time trials and several high mountains, Van Aert may compete in the Belgian championship time trial on June 22, the weekend before the Tour de France in the Basque Country.