Niels Bastiaens • Saturday December 16, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Special For the first time in years, the cross programs of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert differ considerably. The Dutchman is going for his sixth world title in the field, which brings him very close to Eric De Vlaeminck’s record. Van Aert has indicated that he only considers the cross as preparation for the road season. Former world champions Erwin Vervecken and Paul Herygers see no problem in both preparations.
On Saturday in Herentals, Van der Poel will take part in his first of fourteen races on his cross bike, while his Belgian competitor has already completed his first of eight cyclo-cross races. Nothing new under the sun for Van der Poel, but Van Aert is radically changing his guns for the first time. Not only in terms of the number of races, but also in his personal ambitions.
Last winter he played fourteen times between December 4 and February 5, with the World Cup as the climax. “What I did then could also be 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. Now only the road counts,” the three-time world champion explained earlier.
An explanation that VRT commentator Paul Herygers fully agrees with. “For me, Wout no longer has to prove himself. It’s high time he started thinking about himself, and I notice he is doing that now. He doesn’t look at his own people. Herentals, Lille: those crosses were founded for him, so to speak. Yet he says: I’m not there this time. When I hear that, all I can think is: well done, Wout. It’s high time to grab that big classic on the road. Then a radically different approach might be the solution for him.”
Did the World Cup in Hoogerheide initiate the change? – photo: Cor Vos
“I think the Hoogerheide World Cup has encouraged that,” says Herygers. “If he had bridged that last meter in that sprint, it might have been the same scenario as all previous years. Van Aert hard at work, driving in the dark, winning against Van der Poel. Be careful, I’m not saying that his new way of thinking will suddenly bring about great results. We can only draw up that balance later. But he is capable of more than he showed during the classics last year.”
Mentale last
Yet Erwin Vervecken thinks it is wise that Van Aert does not let go of the cross completely. “He needs the cross to keep the engine going so that it doesn’t rust. The past teaches us that the cross is not a bad approach. When did Zdenek Stybar win the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Harelbeke? Not coincidentally after the winter in which he crowed the most in the last ten years. I see cyclo-cross as an ideal way to maintain intensity, as long as you do it in moderation. Last year it was too much. Two months at full throttle was probably too long.”
According to Herygers, the solution is not necessarily less racing, but above all less intensity. “I think Van Aert could also do fifteen. What is ten o’clock now? Those are less than two small road races, that won’t make the difference. However, he should never do that with the attitude of: I have to be good, I have to win and compete against a Van der Poel at the World Cup. No, away with that misery! And especially with the pressure of the championships. Mentally it is a completely different mindset.”
Vervecken also sees this. “Don’t underestimate the mental burden. Coming to the cross country for a day is much more than spending an hour on the bike. Every time it is the journey by car, interviews before the cross and after the cross. There are supporters at the mobile home who want something from you, et cetera, et cetera. That may have been less when Van Aert and Van der Poel were not yet such big stars, but now we almost have to talk about world stars, right? These public exposures also weigh in the long term.”
There was nothing that could be done about Van Aert in Essen – photo: Cor Vos
Wild Van der Poel
In contrast, there is the approach of world champion Mathieu van der Poel, who sees the world championship in Tàbor as a major goal and has almost twice as many crosses on his program. He previously gave in conversation with RIDE Magazine already indicates that – apart from that World Cup – he crosses purely for fun, but because of his sensitive back he sometimes thinks about a winter without crosses. “Besides the World Cup, I actually see the rest of the season more as a winter activity. There is no longer much for me to gain in terms of sport,” says Van der Poel.
In addition to his sporting ambitions to equal Eric De Vlaeminck’s World Cup record, according to Erwin Vervecken, there is another reason why Van der Poel does not want to budge in his cross program for the time being. “Mathieu showed last year that it does work. He had a great spring with the preparation and the races he rode at the time. You will unconsciously copy that. For him, that offers the best guarantee of another spring with those great successes. While Wout lacked victory, it is logical that he would rather place other emphasis.”
“That’s the nature of the beast,” Herygers adds. “I mean by that: that program has been in his head for a while, and it fits him like a glove. What I have in mind for the coming weeks is a very wild Van der Poel. It was not without reason that he suddenly wanted to take action a week earlier. He comes from Spain, where he had to train a lot on the road. Has he now looked at the Essen cross and thought: I can no longer keep my legs still, I would like to be there? In any case, he will once again provide a spectacle and have a great time. That still works best for him.”
2023-12-16 09:00:00
#cross #approach #Wout #van #Aert #Mathieu #van #der #Poel #success
