"I'll do four or five cyclocross races this winter" - Van der Poel's former right-hand man set for cyclocross debut for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe

Before making the switch to the road full-time, Gianni Vermeersch was a full-time cyclocross specialist. Alongside Mathieu van der Poel, albeit at different levels, the two have raced for Alpecin-Deceuninck for plenty years and turned their success off-road onto the spring classics. Now after many years, there is a split between the two, but Vermeersch is going to race once again in the field this winter in the colours of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.

"Everything at the Belgian Championships! No, no. I don't know exactly when I'll start yet, but I definitely want to race the Belgian Championships," Vermeersch shared with Wielerflits at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's training camp in Mallorca. The Belgian is one of the new faces in the German team's camp, alongside the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Cattaneo and Arme Marit. He is another card to play in the classics, and a rider with growing importance taking into consideration Oier Lazkano was fired from the team after his biological passport anomalies.

The 33-year old still races at a very high level and continues to return to cyclocross every winter, albeit less frequently now, as part of his preparation towards the spring. In 2023-2024 he came close to taking victories on two occasions, finishing second to van der Poel and Michael Vanthourenhout on the Azencross Loenhout and the Kasteelcross Zonnebeke respectively. Last winter he only raced five crosses, starting out in Loenhout on the 27th of December and finishing at the Belgian national championships.

"I just don't know how it'll go yet. Ideally, I'll do four or five cyclocross races this winter. Until about mid-January, so definitely no World Championships," he confirms however, only with a short stint planned out. Vermeersch is also going to start his road season at the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior on the 16th of February, quickly followed by the Volta ao Algarve before he sets his eyes on the Opening Weekend. The cobbled monuments will certainly be the major priority of his spring campaign.