Wout van Aert seems to be on the mend after a brief period of illness. In the past few days, the Belgian has already completed several training sessions, and the message is clear. There are "many signs of recovery," he writes on his Strava.
With his cyclocross comeback approaching, Van Aert's illness came at a bad time, but overall the damage appears limited. Van Aert avoided the bike for a total of three days. On Saturday, he logged a 23.90-kilometer ride on Rouvy, and on Sunday he spent two hours out with Jan Bakelants. On Monday, he completed another loop of exactly one hundred kilometers, which the Belgian covered in three hours and ten minutes.
The 31-year-old rider now has just over eleven days to prepare for his return to cyclocross. Van Aert will hit the mud in Antwerp on December 20. He will face Mathieu van der Poel directly in this World Cup cyclocross, who makes his comeback in Namur on December 14.
Eight cyclocross races, or nine?
Two days after the Antwerp race, we can expect another showdown in Hofstade (December 22). Van Aert and Van der Poel will also clash in Loenhout (December 29), Mol (January 2), and Zonhoven (January 4). They will face each other five times this winter.
The remaining three cyclocross races where Van Aert starts (and Van der Poel does not) are the Superprestige Heusden-Zolder (December 23), World Cup Dendermonde (December 28), and the Belgian Championships in Beringen on January 11. Van Aert appears set to close his cyclocross season with the national title contest. The World Championships in Hulst are not yet included in his schedule, but that may change.
Wout van Aert
