Wout van Aert makes victory gesture for son as he carries momentum into World Cup debut in Dendermonde

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) didn't hold back at the Superprestige round in Gullegem as he powered through the mud for his first cyclocross race win in 12 months, just 24 hours ahead of the World Cup in Dendermonde.

In his second start of the 2024-2025 cyclocross season, Van Aert delivered an unexpected victory on Saturday, going clear of second-placed Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines) on the final lap. 

Van Aert saluted his son Georges, who turned four years old, by raising four fingers as he crossed the finish line. He also raised his arms to glide to a stop and stuck his tongue out of his mud-covered mouth as part of the birthday celebration.

"Whenever Georges has to be photographed, he pulls a 'funny face', as he calls it. That's why I did it today, to congratulate him on his birthday that way," he told Het Nieuwsblad after the victory. 

A winner in Gullegem two seasons ago, Van Aert started on the third row in the 2025 edition and quickly vaulted into the lead group with favourites Iserbyt, Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon), Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines) and Superprestige series leader Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck). By the fourth lap, he began a steady acceleration to claim the race lead.

A final attack on the sixth of eight laps left Iserbyt as the only rider to match Van Aert. It came down to the final circuit when Iserbyt slipped in a muddy corner and then had to dismount and run on a small punchy climb that followed, allowing Van Aert to sail away for the solo win.

"This win came as a surprise to me. I didn't expect I was going to be able to beat these guys on this course," Van Aert said in the post-race broadcast interview. "Hard to believe, because people think I always ride to win. But now 2025 has started and that feels really good. 

"On the technical sections I sometimes struggled to follow the others, but I knew the tricky course would start to weigh on everyone. On the last lap, I increased the pace once more, which ultimately proved to be enough to take victory. I'm very happy with that."

Van Aert's abbreviated 'cross season took a hit at the end of December when he missed a planned opener at Superprestige Mol due to illness and made his debut four days later at Exact Cross Loenhout. He finished fourth at his opening match, which was his first competition since crashing out of the Vuelta a España with a knee injury in September.

There are now only a trio of World Cup rounds remaining on Van Aert's winter calendar, which includes Sunday's Dendermonde contest. He was due to face off with long-term rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) there but the Dutchman had to pull out due to a persisting rib injury.

In his post-race interview, Van Aert said he did not have big expectations for the remaining winter campaign, but would "enjoy myself" at the World Cup contest on Sunday.

"I had to dig deep today, but tomorrow there’s already another tough race in Dendermonde. I’ll give my best there again. I’m looking forward to it."

The Belgian said he would not participate in the UCI Cyclocross World Championships as he plans to focus on the road and conquests in the spring Classics. 

After competing in Dendermonde, he'll head to Visma-Lease a Bike's January training camp in Spain before racing at the World Cup in Benidorm. He'll then close out his 2024-25 'cross campaign at the World Cup in Maasmechelen, where he and Van der Poel should share their second and final duel of the winter.