Jens Adams witnessed Wout van Aert's comeback in cyclo-cross up close: "He only needs one gear to excel"

Jens Adams didn't have a particularly strong start to his cyclo-cross winter, but as the season progresses, he has been achieving increasingly better results. In the Exact Cross in Essen, which was mainly about Wout van Aert's cyclo-cross comeback, the 31-year-old Flemish rider impressively finished second, one and a half minutes behind the Jumbo-Visma superstar. After finishing second, Adams spoke with IDLProCycling.com about the race!

First things first: in Essen, comeback kid Van Aert was simply in a league of his own, effortlessly soloing to victory. The competition - with Adams, Thijs Aerts, and Lander Loockx as the main challengers - could briefly enjoy the presence of one of Belgium's greatest current cyclists, but soon Van Aert had flown ahead. "Wout is just a class stronger," said runner-up Adams, who quickly realized that second place was the best he could achieve. "At the beginning, I still had a bit left, but when Wout accelerated, I quickly saw it was going too fast. He just needs one gear. I have to be satisfied with this result."

First things first: in Essen, there was simply no limit to comeback-kid Van Aert, who thus soloed to victory in seemingly easy fashion. The competition - with Adams, Thijs Aerts and Lander Loockx as his main opponents - could enjoy the presence of one of the greatest Belgian cyclists of the moment for a while, but not much later the bird had flown. "Wout is a classier rider,' said runner-up Adams, who quickly realized that second was the highest he could achieve. 'In the beginning I had a little bit left, but when Wout accelerated, I soon realized it was going too fast. He just has enough with one gear to excel. So I myself will just have to be satisfied with this final result."

Adams, riding for the Athletes for Hope team - where he is a teammate of Tom Meeusen - managed to secure this second place. "I achieved my goal," he said contentedly. "I also got cold towards the end, so it was tough reaching the finish. It was very hard with all the mud and rain." According to Adams, Van Aert made the difference on the running sections. While Van Aert mentioned in his post-race interview that these sections suited him, for Adams, it was the exact opposite. "Wout is too strong for me in those moments. I am also happy with a second place, as this was really the best possible result."

Adams then affirmed our question whether he would have settled for a second place, one and a half minutes behind Van Aert, beforehand. "But theoretically speaking and considering the results of recent weeks, this is just my place. I believe I finished where I belong." Adams didn’t specifically alter his strategy for Van Aert. "Not necessarily. I would have preferred to race more aggressively. But in the first round, I just didn't feel right. There was also a lot of wind, so I decided to ride cautiously. Of course, I went all out for that second place in the end."

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, a progressive trend is noticeable in Adams' cyclo-cross results. The Flemish rider agrees. "I had a bad start to the season. That was due to being sick for ten days in September. The last month and a half has been going well again. I'm very happy to be able to show myself in this way again."

"It's been incredibly tough weeks," Adams states when asked about the steps he expects to take next. "In an average cyclo-cross week, you can't train enormously much. The weekends are extremely tough. So, it's important to find the right balance between training and relaxation."

In pursuit of this balance, many cyclocross riders head to Spain (or another Southern European country) for one or several weeks to undergo an intense training camp and hopefully reap the benefits. Athletes for Hope, the team led by Marc Herremans, normally doesn't do this. "Coincidentally, after this race, I am going to Mallorca for a few days. But that's really the only time I can get away. So, I'm going to try to enjoy it as much as possible. Next weekend, I have to race in Herentals and Namur again. So, it's going to be a brief but intense enjoyment of the sun, especially since there's been enough bad weather in Belgium already," he concludes with a broad smile.