The crash led to Van Aert doubting whether he'd walk again, yet just 161 days later, the 25-year-old made his return to racing, placing 5th at Azencross on December 27th.
We recently got a closer look at the bike ahead of the final World Cup round in Hoogerheide.
While the former Zolder Pro struck a more traditional double-triangle silhouette, the 2020 model sees a more contemporary design, following the industry trend of dropped seatstays. Unsurprisingly for a cyclo-cross bike, there is an abundance of clearance for Van Aert's 33c A.Dugast tubular tyres, which are glued to Shimano Dura-Ace tubular wheels.
Jumbo Visma's sponsorship with Vision is evident, with the Belgian running the Vision Metron 6D integrated cockpit, and despite long being a user of SRAM's eTap and eTap AXS groupsets, Van Aert's switch to the Dutch team sees him piloting Shimano components.
Upfront, he is using a two-by Dura-Ace chainset with 46/30 chainrings and at the rear, this is paired with a Dura-Ace 11-30T cassette. Van Aert has chosen to forego Shimano's more off-road-friendly GRX componentry in favour of the range-topping Dura-Ace kit. Braking also comes courtesy of the Japanese brand, with flat-mount disc calipers paired with 140mm rotors front and rear.
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It also looks as though Van Aert is using a pair of Shimano prototype SPD pedals, and while no mention of the model name is printed, we can only assume they will be the new XTR model.
Scroll through the gallery above for a closer look at Wout Van Aert's Bianchi Zolder Pro cyclo-cross bike.
Wout Van Aert's Bianchi Zolder Pro full bike specifications
Frameset: Bianchi Zolder Pro
Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Hydraulic Disc caliper
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
