From “if only I had a minor rib injury,” to “this is why I wanted to be a cyclo-cross rider,” Wout van Aert’s victory in the mud was nothing short of astounding.

not in the least bit missed his start to the year 2025. The mud race of Dendermonde, which took place on Sunday, looked like it would be a good fit for him after the Gullegem race on Saturday. After starting in the third row of the starting grid, Van Aert made his way to the front of the pack in a short amount of time, where he was able to leave everyone else behind him. After the race, Wout was overjoyed with his victory and expressed his happiness.

Van Aert had already demonstrated his legs on Saturday at Gullegem, so they were in good condition; nevertheless, Dendermonde was not the same. Upon waking up, the individual who works at Visma | Lease a Bike became aware of this. In response to his competitor Mathieu van der Poel, who was forced to miss the cyclocross race in Dendermonde due to a rib bruise, he laughed wittyly and said, “When I looked out the window this morning, I thought: if only I had a minor rib injury.”

After that, the interviewer, Maarten Vangramberen, reverted back to those words, and Van Aert grinned at them once more, despite the fact that his face was covered in dirt. “Of course, I’m happy; I’ve suffered enough injuries already,” said the Belgian, adding that he could look back on the first weekend of 2025 with a sense of contentment. “I believe that I am on the right path. We included those cyclocross races in my training regimen to evaluate how well I was doing, and they turned out to be successful, so I am pleased with my performance.

Considering that the Visma | Lease a Bike man is looking to score in the spring in April, it was inevitable for him to come to the conclusion that a mudcross like Dendermonde is not quite perfect. Physiologically speaking, it is beneficial; yet, this course was not at all like road riding. Considering that it was more prevalent in Gullegem and Loenhout, that is a more effective stimulus. Wout continued by saying, “But you also have a fun factor; after all, that is the reason I wanted to become a cyclo-cross rider in the past.”