📸 What do you mean, off-season? Van der Poel plays (in rainbow jersey) on gravel, Van Aert over 100 km with ease

Since his severe crash in the Vuelta a España, Wout van Aert has passed the 100-kilometer mark in a training ride for the first time, as shown on his Strava account. It's a sign that his training load can gradually be increased, paving the way for a potential return to cyclo-cross, possibly by late December or early next year. Mathieu van der Poel is also still on his bike these days.

It has already been over a month since Van Aert unfortunately had to withdraw during the sixteenth stage of the Vuelta a España. Up until that point, he was having a fantastic Vuelta, winning three stages and leading both the points and mountain classifications until his forced retirement. However, the troubles for the Killer Bee were not yet over, as he had to leave the Vuelta prematurely after already missing out on his beloved cobbled classics and the Giro d'Italia due to a severe crash earlier this year in Dwars door Vlaanderen. The Tour also came too soon for him to make a significant impact.

The mentioned crash in the Vuelta a España was quite severe, resulting in a deep knee wound for Van Aert. After a well-deserved vacation with his family, the all-rounder initially began with some walking. He gradually built up to rides of around thirty kilometers on his bike, and then slowly increased the distance. He also worked up quite a sweat on a ride that included plenty of gravel and forest paths.

Read more below the Strava post.

Van Aert and Van Der Poel give cyclo-cross fans hope for a late return in 2024

Tuesday, October 22, marks another milestone in Van Aert's recovery. Together with his good friend and former road cyclist Jan Bakelants, he completed a ride of just over a hundred kilometers. This is a significant step forward for the star rider of Visma | Lease a Bike. Although he still has some progress to make, cyclo-cross fans can begin to hope for a return from Van Aert by the end of 2024.

Perhaps Van der Poel will be there as well. We saw the cyclo-cross and gravel world champion on the Instagram account of good friend Freddy Ovett at work off-road. He had to because asphalt was not an option with the rainbow jersey on his shoulders! From Van der Poel, we don't yet know if he will be competing in cyclo-cross this winter.  

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A small tribute to the Gravel World Championships? Van Aert takes beautiful ride on unpaved paths through the woods

Will we see Van der Poel and Van Aert on the cyclo-cross bike this winter? Niels Albert: "They love cyclo-cross too much"