Wout van Aert is BACK! Visma rider reveals cyclocross calendar, without World Championships

Wout van Aert has recently been training on the cyclocross bike and we knew that a return was imminent. Today, Team Visma | Lease a Bike have made his schedule official, including eight races but no World Championships and likely no battle with Mathieu van der Poel in Hulst where the Dutchman can make history with an eighth rainbow jersey.

Van Aert will be attending the team's training camp in Spain which will take place from the 8th to the 20th of December. He should leave a day earlier however as his first race day will be on the 20th of December in the Antwerp World Cup. He will have a heavy schedule during the Christmas Block, which will include races in Hofstade, Heusden-Zolder, Dendermonde, Loenhout, Mol and Zonhoven - several of these, World Cup rounds, with a few clashes expected against van der Poel too, who will begin his season a week earlier in Namur.

Lastly, van Aert will race the Belgian national championships on the 11th of January, hence concluding his stint in the discipline he came up. Last year he did not publicly announce his presence at the World Championships until a few days from the race, but it's unlikely that this will also be the case this time around, as the nationals come three weeks before the Worlds and there is no race scheduled for van Aert in that period. Furthermore, he should take part in Visma's second training camp in mid to late January, prioritizing his preparation for the road season.

In 2024-2025, van Aerrt raced six events, starting on the 27th of December after a bout of illness, but reached strong form and after two wins - in Gullegem and the Dendermonde World Cup - he tested out his top form in the Maasmechelen World Cup a week before the World Championships, where he finished second behind van der Poel. He gave it a shot at the Worlds but was second to his rival once again, with the duo being joined by Thibau Nys on the podium.