"Skipping World Championships was an obvious choice for me" - Wout van Aert ready to begin cyclocross season in Essen

Wout van Aert races Essen today and is hinted as the big favourite to win. On top of his priority list is the road season, but as he talked to journalists this morning about the racing, he provided some more insight into what's to come in the upcoming month.

“I haven't been on my cross bike nearly enough. After that first cross-training, I was more frightened than actually looking forward to it," van Aert told Wielerflits. "I rode the cross bike one more time this week, but certainly not enough to reach a good level. I am much less in shape than I am used to at the start of my cross winter, but it was a conscious choice to take a more relaxed approach this winter.”

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Van Aert is tackling the competition with the least pressure possible and has little feeling of the cyclocross bike so far. Despite this he should have little competition today in Essen as most of the big figures are absent. Afterwards he will travel to Spain for a team training camp and return for the Christmas block, where he will race on several occasions and then step aside from the discipline.

“That was a difficult choice. Of course, I would prefer to race all winter long. But that simply cannot be combined with the road season, which has many goals that I am looking forward to," he tells. "The start of my preparation is therefore today in Essen. That is a choice of the mind. The program I did last year can also be a good preparation from a physical point of view. However, it takes a lot mentally to start every cross with expectations and to have to perform everywhere."

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Van Aert's final race is not yet decided, but will most likely be in Zonhoven or Benidorm in January. There however he will have a second training camp with the team and already have his sights away from cyclocross mostly. "The skipping World Championships was an obvious choice for me, because it only falls very far into the season. As far as the Belgian championship is concerned, it is a pity that it coincides with the Jumbo-Visma team training camp. I would have liked to do that, but it just didn't fit into the schedule. This has made it a very limited winter.”

“I like being in cyclocross, so it always remains special. I have enjoyed watching my colleagues in recent weeks, so I am happy to be there again. I'll be happy if I get a little cross feeling towards the end of the race. I haven't trained much in the field, so I hope to be able to follow and see what my level is. But I'm going to have fun anyway," he concluded.

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"He can of course easily win the cross in Essen" - Wout van Aert the big favourite to win debut cross, Daan Soete says