Wout van Aert amps up cyclocross training for Essen on and off bike

It has been nearly 10 months since Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) has raced on his cyclocross bike, and the first sign for the end of this hibernation came this week when the former World Champion began his ‘annual wake-up call’ of ‘cross training in his home province of Antwerp.

On Tuesday, Van Aert completed a 68.8km ride from Herentals, the majority of unpaved roads between Lille and Kasterlee to the north, averaging 26.8 kph over a two and half hour effort. Today he added a 146.7km ride on the roads to the south near Leuven, averaging 32.1 kph across four and half hours.

“Please don’t wake up too much,” Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) replied Tuesday on Strava, where Van Aert has 575,175 followers.

Van Aert also added training early each morning off the bike, on Wednesday putting in a 10.21km run in the wet snow.

Winter conditions accompanied Van Aert on Wednesday, with the temperatures just above the freezing mark once he got on his bike and more clouds bringing light afternoon showers instead of snow. 

Meanwhile, his major competitor Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) joined Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) on a 123.4km, four-hour road ride near Calpe, Spain, where the sun was bright and the temperatures warm along the Mediterranean coast.

Joining Van der Poel and Evenepoel in Spain were Australian Freddy Ovett, who rode for L39ION of Los Angeles this past season, and 22-year-old Belgian Siebe Roesems (Alpecin-Deceuninck). According to a report by Het Laatste Nieuws, actor and friend Louis Talpe joined along for the ride.

Different approaches but similar goals will find Van Aert and Van der Poel squaring off for the first time on the cyclocross circuit at the Exact Cross in Mol on December 22, where the Dutchman makes his season debut. Van Aert gets in gear at the Exact Cross in Essen on December 9. Both have opted for shorter cyclocross seasons and plan to skip the World Championships in Tabor in early February in favour of a focus on road racing.

“It is a conscious choice to ride a shorter program. Last year I noticed that it was mentally difficult to really focus on the cross season and then move on to the spring,” Van Aert said on the Jumbo-Visma website earlier this month. “I have decided for myself that I no longer want to leave anything to chance when it comes to the spring classics. That is why, with a heavy heart, I am running a more limited program.”

Missing out on victories at the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix, this past season gave Van Aert a renewed personal quest for road results. He has a long list of objectives on the road for Team VIsma-Lease a Bike in 2024, from the mastery of his home Monument, Tour of Flanders, to a debut at the Giro d’Italia and a go for gold at the Paris Olympic Games. There is also a possible first-time entry at the Vuelta a España following the Olympic Games. So cyclocross has taken a back seat this winter.

Long-term rival Van der Poel has also stated recently that he intends to wind down his cyclocross calendar as he already had five Worlds titles and did not want to risk more physical injuries to his back. With good health he could defend his titles at the two big Classics, Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, and focus on a plan for the Paris Olympic Games.