Paul Herygers on Wout van Aert's form: "You can tell from everything that this is not his main goal"

Wout van Aert returned to cyclocross yesterday. As the first of the 'big three' starting his season, he naturally captured a lot of attention from fans and analysts altogether. Paul Herygers, a vocal voice of the sport, shared his opinions on the Belgian.

"His condition will probably be okay at the moment, but he is not yet at his maximum. You can tell from everything that this is not his main goal, but you can also go far if there is no pressure," Paul Herygers said in words to Sporza. "That defeat at the Cyclocross World Championships bothered Van Aert. If he had won there, he would have stuck to his familiar formula."

He and Ruben Van Gucht discussed this day which had an important meaning in the season and it's next few weeks, and the consensus is that his form was not yet at his best and that cyclocross really will not be his priority - and that he was not overreacting regarding his form. The Belgian will travel to Spain for a training camp and perhaps have better form into the Christmas block where he's expected to take part in some interesting battles.

His first battle against Mathieu van der Poel will be in his return on the 22nd of December in Mol. When asked, Herygers shared his opinion on what may come: "That circuit suits him great and it will only be the first cross for Van der Poel. But it is a bit of a guess. The supporters in particular will be the big winners."