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Wout Van Aert finds a new home

Belgian world champion will race out the season with Cibel-Cebon Offroad team

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Toon Aerts leads Wout van Aert at World Cup #1 in Waterloo, Wisc.. Photo: Molly Hurford

After riding two World Cups as an independent racer, cyclocross world champion Wout Van Aert has a new home.

The Belgian cyclocross star signed to the Cibel-Cebon Offroad Team today, adding Caps fuel cards as an additional sponsor. An announcement on Van Aert’s webpage called the new project a “one-man team.”

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“A turn that is the beginning of a new era in my career, with the focus ahead”, Van Aert’s statement reads. “I am really set up with the fact that in the coming months I will get the trust of a number of new partners, who want to join forces with me to achieve great results this winter. This gives me an extra boost to take full advantage of it and my rainbow jersey in that way all the credit.”

Van Aert’s contract with the UCI Continental team is only temporary, covering the 2018-2019 cyclocross season. The reason for the short-term deal is Cibel-Cebon’s Continental status. The young Belgian still has aspirations of racing a Spring Classics campaign, which requires a WorldTour level contract.

Cibel-Cebon CAPS will not look to continue on with Van Aert after the five month contract expires. The interim solution will end with the season’s last Cyclocross race. According to Van Aert’s press release, “today there are no concrete agreements in which team he will ride next spring.

As he has in the past, Van Aert will race on Stevens cyclocross bikes.

The reigning cyclocross world champion starting the World Cup season team-less after a period of uncertainty with his former Veranda’s Willems-Crelan team. The team first announced it would merge with Aqua Blue Sport. When those negotiations, and the Aqua Blue Sport team fell apart, a merger with Roompot squad came into place.

Van Aert opted to terminate his contract rather than go forward with the team. This led to a contract dispute with his former team’s management company, Sniper Cycling. With just days left before the World Cup was set to start in Waterloo, Wisc., the Belgian rider was left scrambling to put together a bike, team and support for the first two races.

The young rider raced both American rounds of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in a plain world champions jersey. He finished both races in second place behind Toon Aerts.

Sponsors for Wout Van Aert and the Cibel-Cebon CAPS team include Domo Electro, G&V Energy Group, Heylen Vastgood, Stevens Bikes, and Bioracer Speedwear.

According to his website, some profit from the partnership will go towards Marc Herremans’ “To Walk Again” foundation.