Wout van Aert will most likely wait until late December to begin his cyclocross season, prioritizing the team’s training camp in eastern Spain. There is no indication of when or if Tom Pidcock will race, and Mathieu van der Poel was the subject of a chat with the Dutch national team coach.
“I haven’t heard anything concrete yet, let’s put it that way. And if he lets you know something, you never know for sure. Let’s see first,” Gerben de Knegt told Wielerflits. “He does have cyclocross plans, but the question is whether it fits”.
Last year, the World Champion waited until December 16th, at Herentals, to begin his winter racing season. It proved to be a successful plan, as he began the racing block in terrific shape and showed it all throughout, winning all but one race while also claiming the World Championship title. After winning the Gravel World Championships, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider will most likely wait until December to begin his new season.
“I’ll just wait and see. I understand his idea of skipping a cyclocross winter. Knowing him, he would rather not do two or three cyclocross races and then do the World Championships,” de Knegt argued. “If he goes cyclocross, he wants to do more. Then it gets busy again and that puts pressure on your road preparation. He will have to make that decision.”
