Wout Van Aert close to a return. On September 3, the Belgian had to observe a long period of rest after falling heavily in the Vuelta. The Visma – Lease a bike rider had been seriously injured in the knee and was unable to return to competition. As is often the case, Van Aert will start his season with cyclo-cross, from December 23. It will resume with four races, namely the Superprestige Mol – Zilvermeercross, the Exact Cross Loenhout – Azencross, the Superprestige Gullegem and the Dendermonde World Cup stage. All in two weeks with a final stop on January 5.
A more limited schedule than usual
Once this block is completed, he will compete in a final World Cup stage on January 25 before hitting the road again. He is thus skipping the World Championships in Liévin on February 2. He justified this choice in a press release: “This winter we opted for a compact program of six races which fit well into my training plan. It will be a cyclo-cross season that I approach out of pure love of the sport, but with modest ambitions. After my crash at the Vuelta and my knee injury, it is essential to make the best use of the time I have to prepare for the road season. A few cyclocross races fit well into this plan, but the schedule is deliberately more limited than in previous years. This will be the first objective to achieve, but I will certainly not reach my highest level on this occasion. There are two big races on the calendar in Benidorm and Maasmechelen, where I expect to be in better condition. I'm incredibly excited to get back into the peloton and can't wait to reconnect with the fans. »
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To summarize
A star of the peloton, absent since his heavy fall in the Vuelta, will return to competition with several cyclo-cross races on the program. Wout Van Aert will nevertheless do less than in previous years.
