“Three races in a row is too much”: Heijboer on Van Aert’s balanced cyclo-cross schedule and World Championships doubts

In the wake of Mathieu van der Poel announcing his plans on Friday, Wout van Aert has now also revealed his (provisional) cyclo-cross schedule for the coming months. The Belgian will return to the field at the Antwerp World Cup on 20 December and will wrap things up at the Belgian Championships in Beringen on 11 January – but is there still a chance he rides the World Championships in Hulst as well? Coach Mathieu Heijboer answers that question in Het Nieuwsblad.

Van Aert currently has eight races on his calendar: the World Cups of Antwerp (20/12), Dendermonde (28/12) and Zonhoven (4/1), the X²O Trofee rounds in Hofstade (22/12) and Loenhout (29/12), the Superprestige race in Heusden-Zolder (23/12), the Exact Cross in Mol (2/1) and, of course, the Belgian Championships.

''The Christmas period is anyway a phase of the cyclo-cross season I always enjoy being part of,” Van Aert himself said about it. ''Because of the races themselves, the big crowds of supporters who are there thanks to the holidays and the fact that racing cross at that point fits perfectly into my build-up towards the big classics on the road.”

In December and January Van Aert will also be in Spain for training camps with his Visma | Lease a Bike team, but in between those the Belgian Championships are a major target. “A championship jersey is always motivating. It has been a while since I was able to line up there, so I’m happy it now fits into my calendar. I’m looking forward to giving the best of myself there and in the other races, and to meeting the fans again.”

Heijboer, Van Aert’s long-time coach at Visma | Lease a Bike, provided more context in the Tuesday edition of Het Nieuwsblad. “Wout put this proposal on the table at the team quite early. There has been no discussion at all about doing more or fewer races. We’ve been working together for so long. The team and Wout now know perfectly what is needed to race well in cyclo-cross, without it taking anything away from the road season,” the Dutchman said.

Van Aert will only be racing in Belgium this winter and is also skipping some events. “We think three cyclo-cross races on three consecutive days is too much. Then the load becomes too big, with a risk of illness. At this time of year you also want to train a lot of volume, so there has to be room for that,” Heijboer explains.

For that reason, he stresses, we shouldn’t expect Van Aert to be at absolute top level straight away in Antwerp. “Wout has started training again a little earlier this time,” Heijboer continues. 

“And in good health, moreover. In terms of condition he’s in a better place right now than last year. At the same time he hasn’t done much specific cyclo-cross training yet, at most some gravel work. Technically in the field we shouldn’t expect all that much from him in the first races, but as I said: we’re working towards the Belgian Championships and I’m convinced it will go a little better every race.” ) Indeleiderstrui.nl+1

And what about the World Championships in Hulst? “In all honesty: the door is only open a very small crack right now. At this moment we are not working towards the Worlds and we also don’t want to make a final decision about it yet,” Heijboer concludes in Het Nieuwsblad.