Wout van Aert will become the first of the 'big three' of cyclocross to get his 2023-24 campaign underway on Saturday, making his winter debut at the Exact Cross, to kick-off a limited cyclocross calendar.
The Belgian will race a maximum of 10 races in the next two months before turning his attention to fully preparing for the 2024 road season and his spring goals.
Jumbo-Visma coach Mathieu Heijboer, who now oversees Van Aert's training following the departure of Marc Lamberts, described his cyclocross season as "more of a means than an end," explaining why Van Aert will not ride the UCI Cyclocross World Championships at the end of January.
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"This winter the cyclocross is much more of a means than an end. Everything is based on spring," Heijboer told Het Nieuwsblad.
"Last winter, the cyclocross was really still a goal and there was a first peak towards the World Championships in Hoogerheide. After that, there was a physical and mental decompression, especially since a certain level of disappointment had to be dealt with."
Van Aert's cyclocross debut is built around a 10-day December Jumbo-Visma training camp that sits between his debut this weekend in Essen and his return to cyclocross on December 22 in Mol.
He then has an intense block of racing at Christmas, with UCI World Cup races at Antwerp (December 23), Gavere (December 26), Hulst (December 30), and the X2O Trofee round of the GP Sven Nys in Baal (January 1). Van Aert will tackle seven races in two weeks, with little time for the holidays or endurance road training.
World Cup showings at Zonhoven (January 7) and Benidorm (January 21) are uncertain, with road training in January considered more important.
Van Aert will face off against eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel in Mol, Antwerp, Gavere, Hulst, Baal, and Koksijde – and possibly Zonhoven and Benidorm – but Heijboer suggested that his level of fitness will be lower than in a 2022-23 season where he scored nine wins and five second places from 14 starts.
"Wout's level will be lower than last year. Wout won't be shocked by that, I won't be shocked by that," Heijboer said, perhaps trying to lower expectations.
"That doesn't mean that Wout will start 15th. He is someone who always wants to win. We're going to make the most of it for one hour at a time to improve his fitness.
"Can he win? Maybe he's close, maybe not. But it's important that he can complete his planned training sessions the next day in the build-up towards February. We also want a fresh Wout during the training camps for the Classics. The difference with last year is clear – cyclocross was a goal then, but not now."
Van Aert is also set to ride a more limited spring campaign on the road in 2024, with a May debut at the Giro d'Italia also a major goal. He'll start at February's Volta ao Algarve and then take on Strade Bianche and the Dwars door Vlaanderen on the road to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, with an altitude training camp somewhere in between.
Heijboer said that, along with using the cyclocross season to prepare for his spring on the road, Van Aert has also mixed up his training programme with running and gravel riding this winter.
"Wout likes variety. That's why he included that running training," he said.
"He used the gravel bike for the longer training sessions. It allowed him to train volume, but still not have to work on the road.
"Last Wednesday, Wout completed a real 'cross training and this Wednesday there's another such training session on the programme, mainly to test the equipment again.
"Not that much has changed, but this training mainly serves to allow the mechanics to definitively adjust the bike and it gives Wout the opportunity to get used to his 'cross bike again."
