"My absolute main goals are three months away" - Wout van Aert shifts focus away from cyclocross as he ends dense racing block
Cycling
The X2O Trofee Badkamers Koksijde was the final big cross of Wout van Aert's Christmas block schedule. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider has raced all his cyclocross events but one, and now will take rest and begin to focus on the road season ahead.
“I feel that I started my Christmas period with much less fitness. It was a very tough and fun period. There were a lot of people at the cross and I enjoyed that immensely. Physically it was adapting to the legs that allowed what I was able to show. That is different from other years, but we knew that in advance," van Aert shared with Wielerflits. "Ever since I got my number, I want to do the best I can. I've always done that. That resulted in nice places of honor, but few victories.”
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Unfortunately for him, he was met with a very strong Mathieu van der Poel that he could not match in any race, unlike last year. A difficult winter results wise for the Belgian, but not something that was of concern to him as he did not arrive with his best form. Using cyclocross as preparation for next spring, he now takes a step back to recover from the last few weeks of effort.
“I have already taken a nice step forward, but I need days of rest," he continues. A training camp with the Dutch team follow. He will still race the Benidorm World Cup on the 21st of January, and from there on have nothing but the road season ahead where he has big goal for the spring. "Then we will continue to build progressively. My absolute main goals are three months away, which is still a while. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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𝗔 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝘁 💌 “It was nice to ride these races. Every time, I enjoyed the large crowds.” Thank you. 🙌🏻
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