Eight (or, if he adds the Cyclocross World Championships to his schedule at the last minute, nine) times we will see Wout van Aert in action in cyclocross. It’s a sight that will delight every cyclocross fan, but at what level will we see Van Aert return? Due to better preparation, the outside world immediately expects a strong Van Aert at his comeback in the World Cup in Antwerp on Saturday. But what do his entourage, the media, the competition, and Van Aert himself think?
The coach of Wout van Aert and Head of Performance at the Dutch WorldTeam is the closest to Van Aert. He particularly points out the difference compared to a year ago. "At the end of November, we didn’t even know if racing was feasible because Wout still couldn’t run back then. He came into cyclocross from a completely different starting point. It went pretty well, but we were far from seeing the best Wout in cyclocross. Now he’s been training for weeks without any physical setbacks — that’s a world of difference. Condition-wise, we can expect a lot more.”
"In that regard, we won’t draw big conclusions from last winter," he said in an interview with our website a few weeks ago. "Wout is evolving further than last year. Hopefully, that means he will be competitive with Mathieu van der Poel. That would be a good sign. But even if it goes very well, it doesn’t guarantee a great spring season. Or the other way around."
The all-rounder has already been putting in heavy training sessions the past weeks, mainly on the road and often accompanied by fellow Kempen native and good friend Daan Soete. "Normally, Wout comes out of his rest period a bit heavier, but I immediately saw that this wasn’t the case," he told HLN. "He started training very sharp again. And I get the impression he’s even lost a bit of weight. He must have taken it easy but also been cautious. Just a guess: half the time eating and drinking well, but also not overdoing it during the rest period and keeping it healthy.”
How good is Wout van Aert already in cyclocross? - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
“He feels really good," Soete said. "I think Mathieu will pull further away from Thibau Nys, Michael Vanthourenhout, and Lars van der Haar in Antwerp than he did in Namur. If Wout can stay with those guys, that would already be a good start, in my opinion.”
From the media—ourselves included—hope is voiced for a duel between Van Aert and the world champion, Mathieu van der Poel. Sporza commentator and former world champion Paul Herygers remains more reserved. "Don’t think Wout lies awake at night about his first confrontation with Mathieu. He’s not shaking in his bed. Every decision is, even more than Mathieu’s, carefully weighed. But we do expect him to be ready. At this level, you need a solid base to race cyclocross. He has had a fairly long period to do what he wants and relax, but also to train quite hard at the right moment.”
“Only, Antwerp is no gift to start with. It’s always a bit of a battle there, and things can go wrong. You saw at the World Championships that everything has to fall into place perfectly to be with the front men at the start. It’s no different here. I don’t immediately see a duel coming in Antwerp, but we shouldn’t despair. That will come later. Maybe he’ll finish closer to Thibau Nys,” concluded the Kempen native in our interview.
From Belgian Cycling comes hope that Van Aert will be good immediately. "In principle, Wout should be closer now. He didn’t race the World Championships in Rwanda or the European Championships in France. Then he could steadily and more calmly start building towards the spring. That could give us some duels that go right down to the wire. Then Wout’s confidence that he can beat Mathieu will rise quickly," national coach De Clercq—who has already had a few phone conversations with Van Aert—told our website.
Will we see another real Van der Poel-Van Aert duel? - photo: Cor Vos
This can bring the federation a second advantage. Secretly, De Clercq hopes for a World Championship participation. "From what I’ve heard, there’s little room for a Worlds appearance. On the other hand, if he beats Mathieu in one or more of those five duels, then you might get a different feeling about Wout. If at some point during the Christmas period Wout calls me again and expresses interest in racing the Worlds in Hulst, then I’ll obviously be very happy. As long as the deadline hasn’t passed and registrations aren’t closed, it’s always possible as far as I’m concerned. For someone like Wout, you can always do something extra.”
The seven-time world champion is also not blind to the desire of all stakeholders for “the big duel,” which is coming up five times in the next weeks. After his win at the Citadel of Namur, he was already asked some questions about his big rival. How does Van der Poel view the arrival of the Kempen native? "I’m happy he’s joining. Great duels are coming. Like every year, you know. We both have our own build-up, especially heading into spring. That’s when we meet here and there.”
For Van der Poel, it’s also hard to gauge at what level the three-time world champion will be on Saturday. "How we relate to each other this winter remains to be seen. But Wout will be ready, as always. Hopefully, we can provide some spectacle for the fans," Van der Poel said, offering a promising note.
Finally, we give the floor to Van Aert himself. He will only speak to the press for the first time on the day of the cyclocross in Antwerp, but over the past weeks he has regularly kept the cycling world up to date via posts on his Strava profile. In early December, he couldn’t train for a few days due to illness; two days later, he spoke of 'many signs of recovery.' Van Aert also posted footage of his training sessions in the rain and had to “go back to school” Wednesday afternoon for his first cyclocross training.
In the Visma press release announcing his cyclocross program, Van Aert already sounded enthusiastic. “The Christmas period is always a phase of the cyclocross season that I enjoy. Because of the races themselves, the huge number of fans present due to the holidays, and the fact that cyclocross at that time fits perfectly into my preparation for the big road classics.”
Almost everyone, not least his own entourage, expects Van Aert to ride at a higher level than a year ago. Even though there are no concrete clues yet, the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike is expected to be close to the podium right away. That could give Van Aert an extra boost heading into his road season, but maybe also the final push to add the World Championships to his program? Challenging Van der Poel in Antwerp is less among the expectations.
Will we see that same podium again at the Worlds? - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Wout van Aert
