Wout van Aert will return to competition in two weeks when he straps on a race number for the Antwerp World Cup cyclocross (20/12), but his preparation hasn't gone entirely as planned. Due to illness, he was unable to train for several days.
"First pedal strokes in a few days," the Visma | Lease a Bike rider notes on his Strava, followed by a thermometer emoji, indicating that the Belgian was sick for a few days. This is a setback for Van Aert, but the question remains whether this will affect his first appearance in the field at the Antwerp sandcross.
The 31-year-old rider still has just over two weeks to prepare for his return to cyclocross. Van Aert will be lining up in Antwerp, where he will immediately face Mathieu van der Poel, who will make his comeback in Namur on December 14.
Image: Strava Wout van Aert
Eight cyclocross races, or nine?
Two days after the Antwerp race, another duel is expected in Hofstade (22 December). Van Aert and Van der Poel will also face each other in Loenhout (29 December), Mol (2 January), and Zonhoven (4 January). They will therefore meet five times this winter.
The three remaining cyclocross races where Van Aert will start (and Van der Poel will not) are the Superprestige in Heusden-Zolder (23 December), the Dendermonde World Cup (28 December), and the Belgian Championships in Beringen on 11 January. Van Aert is expected to wrap up his cyclocross season with the national title race. The World Championships in Hulst are currently not included in his schedule.
With emphasis on “currently,” as his team is leaving the door slightly open for the Cyclocross World Championships on February 1 in Hulst. "I’m not completely ruling out the World Championships. As far as we’re concerned, the door is ajar. We will make that decision later, but for now, the World Championships are not in our plans," Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer told our website.
Wout van Aert
