Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) definitively opted out of racing at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships and the Belgian championships before his season debut in Essen today.
"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 said in the pre-race interview, according to Sporza.
"If the Belgian championships had been held closer to the Christmas period, I would have liked to participate, but now it does not work. The World Championships are again at the beginning of February. I have already done the Worlds-spring [Classics] combination, but now I choose something else.
"In the crosses that I do ride, I just hope to give the best of myself."
Van Aert also prematurely played down his ambitions for the Exact Cross race in Essen, Belgium, warning that he is not in great shape.
In his first race since the 2023 road season ended, the Belgian said Saturday that a different approach path to the year means: “I don't think I have ever started the cross winter as badly as I have now.”
Van Aert was the standout name in the Essen event, which was muddy as usual after heavy rain in northern Europe earlier this week, but on Saturday morning he roundly rejected the idea that there is not much competition for him to face in the Belgian race, arguing “that’s easy to say and does not show respect for these racers.”
"These guys have been racing for a long time," he said. "I don’t underestimate anyone. I am hoping for a win, but we will have to wait and see" before going on to solo to the victory.
The Jumbo-Visma racer added that he was not thinking much yet about his three-way duels with two of the other standout names in the discipline, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), due to take place later in the season.
“It matters a lot to me to make these efforts in the winter, splitting up the long build-up for the road,” he told sporza.be on Saturday morning.
“I have never known it to be anything but muddy here, so it’ll be a real challenge out there today.”
He said that after the Exact Cross race he should have a better idea of his condition, but the real challenges would come after his ten-day training camp in Spain when he returns for more cyclocross over the Christmas period.
Van Aert made light of it of what could be a tough start at Essen, telling sporza.be in a half-joking way, "For the time being, the comeback is a bit disappointing, but that mainly has to do with the weather."
