Wout Van Aert made a comeback from injury with a fourth-place finish in Saturday's cyclocross gurregem, but the Jumbo-Visma rider said it would be a "miracle" if he made the podium at next weekend's Belgian national championships.

Van Aert suffered a deep cut on his upper right leg during the time trial to Pau on stage 13 of the Tour de France and underwent two surgeries. He was off the bike for more than two months and finished fifth in last week's Azencross.

Already showing signs of improvement in Saturday's Gurlegem, Van Aert rode strongly until midway through the race.

"It was a difficult race, but I had a good run," Van Aert told Sporza (open in new tab). "It was a difficult race, but we did well," Van Aert told Sporza (open new tab). I was very optimistic about the race, but I felt we could still make big improvements. We are losing, especially in the technical sections. If you make too many mistakes, sooner or later you pay the price."

Van Aert was unable to catch up to the chasing pair of Michal Van Tulenhout and Kone Van Kessel in the finale, but finished in fourth place, 42 seconds behind winner Van der Pol. He will not compete in Sunday's Brussels University Cyclocross, and his next race will be the Belgian Championships next weekend.

The 25-year-old has won this event three times, but downplayed his prospects for success in Antwerp this time around.

"I will go to the Belgian Championships in good spirits and I have nothing to lose. I'm also happy to be part of a championship like this," Van Aert said. 'I want to get on the course and get closer to the podium. But Belgium is still the best cyclocross country, so it would be a miracle to be on the podium."