Wout van Aert and his Visma-Lease a Bike team have announced the Belgian will ride just six cyclocross races this winter and confirmed that he will again not target the World Championships in early February.
Van Aert is still recovering from the series knee injury he suffered in a crash at the Vuelta a España and is prioritising his 2025 road racing season.
He will race six major cyclocross races that fit in with Visma-Lease a Bike's training camps and the holiday season.
Long-term rival Mathieu van der Poel is also expected to announce a reduced cyclocross campaign and Tom Pidcock may decide to avoid racing in the mud, as road ambitions take a leading role in their careers.
Van Aert's first block of cyclocross racing is in Belgium includes the the Superprestige Mol - Zilvermeercross on December 23, the Exact Cross Loenhout - Azencross on December 27, the Superprestige Gullegem on January 4 and the Dendermonde World Cup race on January 5.
Van Aert will then head to Spain for the Visma-Lease a Bike January training camp and then ride the Benidorm World Cup race on January 19. He will end his six-race cyclocross campaign at the Maasmechelen World Cup on January 25.
"This winter, we’ve opted for a compact schedule of six races that fit well into my training plan. It will be a cyclocross season I approach purely out of love for the sport, but with modest ambitions," Van Aert explained.
"After my crash in the Vuelta and my knee injury, it’s essential to make the best use of the time I have to prepare for the road season. A few cyclocross races fit nicely into that plan, but the schedule is deliberately more limited than in previous years."
Van Aert was forced to abandon the Vuelta a España after he crashed on the descent of the Collada Llomena on stage 16 to Lagos de Covadonga. At that time, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that he suffered severe knee pain caused by a deep wound.
He returned to training on the road on October 4th and is still combining physiotherapy work with training. He is scheduled to attend an upcoming Visma-Lease a Bike training camp in Spain.
Van Aert is a three-time cyclocross world champion but will use the six races to complement his road training. He is not expecting to be on form when he makes his cyclocross debut on December 23.
"That will be the first target to work toward, but I certainly won’t reach my highest level there," he made clear, hinting at higher ambitions in late January when he could clash with Van der Poel.
"There are two great 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 field and look forward to reconnecting with the fans,” Van Aert concluded.
