Just four more nights of sleep and then it's time: Wout van Aert's cyclocross comeback and his first showdown with his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel. The Belgian is currently preparing in Spain for his return to cyclocross, but the weather hasn't been great.
In fact, last Sunday Van Aert even received an alert on his phone from the Spanish government. All residents in the Valencia region – where Van Aert and his teammates from Visma | Lease a Bike are currently staying – had to be cautious of Storm Emilia and the heavy rainfall expected.
The province of Valencia remains extra vigilant after the devastating floods at the end of 2024 – which caused more than 220 deaths – so the people in the area were given a warning. Public events were canceled, but on the day itself, it fortunately turned out to be less severe.
The riders of Visma | Lease a Bike even found the opportunity to squeeze in a training ride. In his weekly Instagram review, we see Van Aert still getting on the bike and trying to brave flooded streets of Valencia.
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Van Aert will dive back into cyclocross this coming Saturday in Antwerp. He will immediately face Mathieu van der Poel in this World Cup cyclocross, who already successfully made his comeback last Sunday in the Namur mountain cross.
Two days after the first confrontation in Antwerp, we can expect another duel in Hofstade (December 22). Van Aert and Van der Poel will also face off in Loenhout (December 29), Mol (January 2), and Zonhoven (January 4). So, they will meet at least five times this winter. Visma | Lease a Bike is keeping the door slightly open for the Cyclocross World Championships on February 1 in Hulst.
Wout van Aert
