Visma's Wout Van Aert will warm up for the 2025 road season by racing six legs of the cyclocross World Cup in December and January, the Belgian said on Friday.

From Cyclocross To Road Racing Success

Van Aert has been a fundamental factor in teammate Jonas Vingegaard's Tour de France wins. He is among the highest-paid riders in the road racing peloton.

Before his successful conversion to road racing, the powerful rider honed his skills on the dirt tracks of cyclocross, an increasingly popular cycling format, where he was world champion between 2016 and 2018.

A Return To Passion

"Cyclocross remains my first love, which is why I enjoy returning to it every winter," Van Aert said. "It will be a cyclocross season I approach purely out of love for the sport, but with modest ambitions."

Targeted Race Schedule

Van Aert said he would race at Mol, Loenhout, Gullegem, Dendermonde, and Maasmechelen, all in Belgium, as well as Benidorm in Spain.

The schedule is "deliberately more limited than in previous years" to help him recover from injuries sustained last season. Van Aert was forced out of the Spanish Vuelta in September after a crash.