Duel with Van der Poel "not the goal" insists Van Aert ahead of cyclocross return: "Realistically speaking, he is the better one”

One of the highlights of the winter cyclocross season is seeing Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert going head to head in the field, something made even more special by the reduced opportunities to see such battles in recent years.

The first of the battles between Van Aert and Van der Poel this winter, takes place at Azencross Loenhout this afternoon. "I'm nervous today," admits Van Aert ahead of his first race of the campaign in conversation with Wielerflits. "That stress is always the case when you race or cross for the first time after a long time. You are curious about your performance. I don't have the highest expectations, but there is always a lot to deal with when you arrive at such a race for the first time. There is also a very technical aspect to cyclocross. I haven't flown through the field at that speed for a long time, that does cause some stress.”

Given it's nearly four months since his last competitive race at the Vuelta a Espana, Van Aert also is open about the fact his level is a little unclear. “After you have ridden a race, you usually know where you will be. Whether you have good or bad legs. But without races, the question is: am I going for the podium now? Or will it be difficult to follow the top 10?" he questions. "You can imagine it, but it is logical that you do not know everything. It is only against yourself that you compete during training, and that is difficult to compare.”

“The internship was certainly not bad, but I mainly notice that I am not recovering enough. It is always a bit of a balancing act not to do too much. I don't usually have that much trouble," he adds. "But I felt when I started again in November that it took a long time before I was riding around at a normal level. After the long inactivity I needed much more time to reach a decent basic level. That is still playing a role now.”

Van Aert also insists that getting sucked into a head-to-head dual with his old rival is not the major motivating factor. "Not only yesterday, but in all three races Mathieu was as good as ever. It is absolutely not the goal to make a duel out of it," he says. "I hope it goes well, that I can ride a good race and compete. Of course, if I am in the front, I am not going to give up beforehand. But realistically speaking, he is the better one.”

“The last few weeks I was looking forward to being there more and more, you saw more people and the race started to come to life more. That was what I was longing for. When I had to forfeit on Monday due to illness, that feeling was even greater. Then I realized: shit, it would have been nice to be there,” Van Aert concludes. "I don’t think I can go home dissatisfied. I have nothing to prove here. I’m looking forward to doing it again, challenging myself and we’ll have to see how that goes. Going all out is the big goal.”