Following Wout van Aert's winter cyclocross schedule announcement, Visma-Lease a Bike head of performance Mathieu Heijboer has said that his 'cross campaign "is primarily to have fun" with the racing all in service of his main early season 2026 goal, the spring Classics.
On Monday, Visma-Lease a Bike announced that Van Aert will be taking on eight races in December and January, facing off against his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel on five occasions. It's once again a limited 'cross campaign, but one crafted with a bigger goal in mind.
"The main sporting goal is in April, that's clear. The goal of the cyclocross campaign is primarily to have fun – and to give something back to the fans. It's still Wout's great passion," Heijboer told WielerFlits, before noting that Van Aert is coming into the winter in a stronger position than he did in 2024, where he began training late following his Vuelta a España crash.
"He generally started training from a better starting position. His level is higher, which means he's making progress every time. He's in a much better position than last year. Hopefully, that will also translate into a more explosive Wout in the spring. But that's still a long way off."
Last spring, Van Aert couldn't get the better of Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar as the pair took home the big titles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. He and his team will hope for improvement on two fourth places next April, Heijboer said.
"Mathieu and Tadej are obviously enormous talents, capable and willing to win wherever they compete. But we see plenty of room for improvement to rediscover the best version of Wout," he said.
"Something we couldn't do two years ago because of that crash, and last year because of the aftermath of that terrible season. Are we saying it's easy? No. But we do believe very strongly. It would be crazy if it weren't.
"[After winter], Wout will be further along than last year. Hopefully, that means he's competitive with Mathieu van der Poel. That would be a good sign. But even if things go really well, that doesn't necessarily mean a great spring will follow. Or vice versa."
Van Aert's 'cross campaign will see him build towards a bid at a sixth Belgian national title in mid-January, with the National Championships set to be his final race of the season.
The season will also be structured around Visma-Lease a Bike's road training camps, with their January camp coming the day after the Belgian Nationals. For now, the CX World Championships at the start of February "isn't in our plans," Heijboer added.
"The most important thing is that his main goals are really in the spring. With that in mind, we want to consciously choose to focus on preparing for the road season.
"If at some point we see that he's feeling so good, that his cyclocross is going well, he's recovering well, and he's ahead of schedule, then there's a chance the opportunity will arise. But then it shouldn't affect his other training sessions."
