Van Aert’s Weekend Cyclocross Double Signals Return to Form

Starting in the fourth row on Sunday, van Aert took the lead at the end of the second of 8 laps, rode away from the field on the following lap, pursued by 22-year-old Emiel Verstrynge (Crelan-Corendon), and gradually pulled away. His lead at the end of lap 3 was 14 seconds, which increased to 31 seconds after lap 4, at which point the race was effectively over. At the finish, he led Verstrynge by a whopping 1:20, with another Crelan-Corendon rider, Joran Wyseure, in third, at 1:41.

The current one-two of the World Cup table, Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Cibel Clementines) and Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP) finished fifth and fourth, at 2:24 and 1:52, respectively.

“It means a lot that I managed to win twice this weekend. I surprised myself,” van Aert said. “It’s already a huge boost towards the upcoming road season. In terms of feeling, I’m right on track. I’m ahead of the schedule that I had in my mind, so it’s a confidence boost to keep working to the road season.” Though it wasn’t a perfect race, for he slipped up once, on lap 7, when his bike slid out on a muddy section and he hit the muddy deck.

Van Aert went on to say, “We added these crosses to my program to see where I was. And that turns out to be good. I can’t take anything else out of that.” As for all the wet mud, van Aert said he couldn’t get enough of it. “That’s real cycling,” he said. “But there is also the fun factor. And these are the days for which I wanted to become a crosser when I was young.”

On Saturday, at the Superprestige Gullegem, van Aert won his first cyclocross race of the season, though it was a close affair, with Belgian champion Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen–Cibel Clementines) fighting him tooth-and-nail on the final lap until two characteristic errors cost him a chance for the victory. Iserbyt finished 10 seconds adrift, with his teammate Vanthourenhout coming in third, at 31 seconds. The effort of chasing van Aert must have taken a toll on Iserbyt, for he finished a disappointing 11th in Dendermonde, 3:46 behind.

Gullegem was van Aert’s first cyclocross win since the World Cup in Benidorm last January and marks what appears now to be a comeback to his best form after a disastrous road season in which he suffered two serious crashes, the last of which, at the Vuelta a España, ended his season prematurely and kept him from a certain green jersey victory.

On Sunday he looked like the old, dominant van Aert, powerful and with superior bike handling, and would certainly have given his arch-rival, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), more than a run for his money if the defending cyclocross world champion had been at the start. But van der Poel suffered a rib injury in the fourth of the five consecutive races he won at the end of last year and only returned to training recently.

After the crash at the Exact Cross race at Louenhout on December 27, which he won by 14 seconds over European champion Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions), van der Poel went on to win the World Cup race at Besançon two days later, with Toon Aerts finishing second 20 seconds adrift. It was only after that race that the rib discomfort became uncomfortable enough to be taken seriously. Van der Poel has not raced since.

On Sunday, van Aert had a special message for his friendly enemy, telling Sporza: “When I looked out of the window this morning, I thought, ‘Gosh, if only I had a small rib injury.’ It’s a joke, of course.”

Van Aert had made his return to racing in the Louenhaut race and finished an encouraging fourth, 36 seconds behind van der Poel. He might have finished as high as second, but he collided with a spectator and crashed on the final lap. Van Aert was chasing the eventual winner with Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) and Nys about half a minute behind the world champion when Nys overtook him on a turn. This forced van Aert to race closer to the barriers, where he ran into a fan leaning far over the barrier.

Van Aert and van der Poel will surely meet up in the near future, probably at the next World Cup race, on January 19 at Benidorm in Spain, where there should be less mud.

Results of Cyclocross World Cup Race in Dendermonde