“The course builders said: 'Yes, Wout is coming, but Mathieu will also come. He will ride too'" - Van der Poel's first CX race of the winter may have been revealed

Recently, Wout van Aert announced his programme for the winter, with the Belgian set for six crosses in the coming weeks. The programme of Van Aert's storied rival, Mathieu van der Poel remains clouded in mystery, although the first of his races may now have been revealed. 

On the latest episode of the Cafe Cross podcast, host Michaël Van Damme and guests Guy Van Den Langenbergh plus Jonas Withouck reveal that they have heard some inside information about the upcoming programme of the Dutch cyclocross world champion. 

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Niels Albert: "I was shocked when I heard Wout van Aert's winter program"

“The speculations (about Van der Poel, ed.) have been around for a long time. For example, Niels Albert said that Van der Poel would only ride three races. But coincidentally: a fellow cyclist was in Loenhout this week, and had stopped there at the course,” begins the tale. “The course builders said: 'Yes, Wout is coming, but Mathieu will also come. He will also ride.' And in Koksijde (where Van Aert is not at the start), they think the same. We are waiting for confirmation, but Loenhout may have a Van Aert-Van der Poel duel. That is at least what the organization there thinks.”

Azencross Loenhout takes place just after Christmas on December 27th. As mentioned, Van Aert has already been confirmed for the race and the likelihood of a mouth-watering reignition of the legendary Van Aert-Van der Poel rivalry could be the perfect tonic to temper the post-Christmas blues for cyclocross fans.

As mentioned, official confirmation of Van der Poel's winter programme is still yet to be announced. As always though, we'll do our best to keep you up to date with any further developments.

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"He chooses races where he thinks the level will not be too high" - Wout van Aert's reduced CX calendar carefully selected believes Bart Wellens

"When Mathieu and Wout return, the tension will be gone" - Zdenek Stybar admits there are negatives on Van der Poel & Van Aert's cyclocross return