Wout van Aert distinguished himself for his return to the Flandrian undergrowth, in Essen (Belgium), on December 9. A week later, on December 16, it was Mathieu Van der Poel’s turn to disgust the competition in Herentals. The next day, a hundred kilometers further south, Tom Pidcock raised his arms in Namur. Saturday December 23, for the first time this season, the “fantastic three” are at the start of the same event: in Antwerp, for the ninth round of the Cyclo-cross World Cup – a one-hour race on a circuit mixing cycling and running.
After epic battles last year, this clash between the Belgian van Aert, the Dutch Van der Poel and the British Pidcock is all the more anticipated as it risks becoming rare this winter. To date, four confrontations between the three men are on the program: in addition to that of Saturday, they will meet in Gavere (Belgium) on December 26, in Hulst (Netherlands) on December 30, then in Koksijde (Belgium) on the 4th. January. Last year, there were seven.
The reason ? Those interested are not only talented cyclo-cross riders, they are also successful backpackers. However, tight winter calendars allow these ambitious people to perform well all year round. Especially when 2024 promises to be particularly busy, the Olympic Games oblige.
The love of mud in the background
Accustomed to racing around thirty cyclo-cross races at the start of his professional career, Wout van Aert has revised his copy. With “only” five victories on asphalt in 2023, the Jumbo-Visma jack of all trades has decided to put his love of mud second. The 29-year-old Belgian, who can boast of having already raised his arms nine times in the Tour de France and having given himself a “Monument” (Milan-San Remo, in 2020), plans, this season, nine trips into the undergrowth, compared to fourteen during the previous one. He will also skip the world championships in the discipline in Tabor (Czech Republic) in February.
In the Belgian daily newspaper Het NieuwsbladMathieu Heijboer, his trainer, explained that this winter “was no longer a goal” in itself for the runner, but ” a way “ to be in good shape for the future, with in particular the Flandrian classics, the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain in the viewfinder. “Last year I struggled mentally to focus on the cyclocross season and then move into springexplained van Aert in a press release published by his teamNovember 14. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance with the classics. This is why, with a heavy heart, I am running a more limited program. »
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