Jumbo-Visma's Wout van Aert is looking to close the gap on European cyclo-cross champion Eli Iserbyt and his Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal teammate Michael Vanthourenhout in the coming weeks. focus on cyclo-cross-specific skills in training.

Iserbyt took the lead in the second round of the X²O Badkamers Trofee in Kortrijk on Saturday, while Vanthourenhout won the World Cup opener in Tabor, Czech Republic, on Sunday. In both races, Vanthourenhout finished third in his first cross race since the Clwatencross in Lille, France, in February.

"It was a very good start," Jan Boven, Jumbo Visma's sporting director, who accompanied the team to both races, told HLN on Tuesday.

"It's been a special year, with the coronavirus outbreak turning everything around and significantly shortening the preparation time for the new cyclo-cross season.

"After a grueling campaign on the road, Wout had not returned to training for a long time. He showed true determination.

Last season, Van Aert made a gentle return to cyclocross in late December as he recovered from a crash at the 2019 Tour de France that left him with a serious thigh injury. He has started his run this season and is now ready to ramp up his commitment to the 'cross season.

"Wout intends to visit the woods and fields frequently this week," Boven said before his individual training camp in Girona, Spain, following the third round of the Superprestige Series in Boom, Belgium, on Sunday.

"There, too, he will focus his training content more on cyclocross. That hasn't been the case so far," Boven added, adding that Van Aert had his last training camp in Spain on a road bike before the cross season.

"A few days before Kortrijk and Tábor, he drove home. It wasn't until Friday that he tested his new cross equipment, so it wasn't an ideal ride.

"Certainly in Tabor he was on the edge. The last two laps were typical of his driving. Fortunately, he has that in spades. It's not about big leaps, it's about every step."

"He already has the ability to keep up with the best crossers in the world, but don't expect him to suddenly run away from Vanthourenhout, Iserbitt, and Toon Arts (Terrenette Baloise Lions) in a few weeks. Anyone who thinks he will is doing them a serious disservice."

Van Aert will also face current world champion Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) for the first time in the second round of the World Cup in Namur on December 20.

The two rivals' long-standing rivalry is expected to reignite soon.

"I don't know how Mathieu has been preparing, but it is not in his nature to be "laid back". I don't know what kind of preparation Mathieu has done, but it is not in his nature to be "laid back."

"The fact is, he will soon have a very different Wout as a competitor than he did 12 months ago," Boven said, noting that Van Aert's comeback from injury and that he reached his best form in the second half of the 2019/20 cyclocross season.

"The sporting director of Jumbo Visma cited Van Aert's victories in this year's Strada Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and two stages of the Tour de France, saying, "As his road season has shown, this time Wout will be much better armed."

"He will be much better armed this time around.

"The battle will be more fun and interesting," he said. "

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