Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) surprised the cycling world when he announced his participation in the cyclo-cross world championships in Liévin, France, on Sunday. This means that the audience will have the chance to see a great duel between van Aert and his main rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck).
Three-time cyclo-cross world champion van Aert has only made four starts this winter and ruled out participating in the World Championships to recover from a knee injury sustained in the Vuelta and focus on the spring classics.
"I feel good, the winter has been successful," van Aert confirmed. "The World Championships came to my mind recently and after the World Championships in Maasmechelen, the Belgian national team coach, my coach in the Visma-Lease a Bike team and I decided to participate. I am looking forward to participating in this beautiful race and I think the added excitement will help me achieve big goals in road racing."
Van Aert and van der Poel competed together at the Maasmechelen World Championship on Saturday, and the Dutchman won by more than a minute ahead of the Belgian ace, who finished second.
"Wout is a real cyclo-cross fan. He indicated that he wanted to participate. We discussed it and considered all the circumstances, and as a team we fully support Wout," said Mathieu Heijboer, Head of Performance Sports at Visma-Lease a Bike.
We're thrilled to announce that @woutvanaert will compete in the cyclo-cross World Championships this Sunday! 🌈
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) January 26, 2025
Wout: "I am excited to start in such a beautiful race, and I think that this extra boost is doing me good in the lead-up to bigger goals on the road."
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