Wout van Aert rules out cross world championships
A 'quiet winter' in Spain does sound quite nice
Despite stomping and splashing to a resounding win at ExactCross Essen on Saturday, his first cross of the year, Wout van Aert revealed he has no plans to extend his winter season to contest world championships, or even Belgian championships this year.
“It is with a heavy heart, but it is a conscious choice to quickly make the transition to the road season and experience a quiet winter,” van Aert told Sporza ahead of Saturday’s cross in Essen.
“The world championships are again at the beginning of February. I have already done the world championships-spring Classics combination, but now I choose something else,” the Jumbo-Visma (soon to be Visma Lease-A-Bike) rider said. “If Belgian championships had been held closer to the Christmas period, I would have liked to participate, but now it does not fit.”
With that, Mathieu van der Poel’s road to defending his men’s cyclocross world championships title, a stated objective of his winter campaign, just got a little bit easier.
A new approach, a quiet winter
Van Aert said that he is taking a new approach to his winter training. That left him doubting his form on the start line, telling Sporza “I don’t think I have ever started the ‘cross winter as badly as I have now.”
Even with not being on peak form, van Aert was able to power away through thick mud for the solo win.
“I didn’t get an easy start, but the feeling was better than I expected,” van Aert reflected after the race. “And it was fun to please the crowd again.”
In good spirits, the Belgian joked after the win that “the comeback is a bit disappointing, but that mainly has to do with the weather.”
An understandable perspective, as the Jumbo-Visma rider arrived in northern Belgium from a team training camp in Spain. He plans to return to the warm weather and paved roads after the weekend. He will remain there until he starts his Christmas Cross campaign in Mol.
