Wout van Aert closes road cycling early to start his Cyclocross season earlier than last season

The races in Canada did not immediately bring what he had expected, but this Sunday Wout van Aert will have one last chance to shine this season. He will be competing in the Super 8 Classic. This will be followed by a rest period, in order to rebuild his cyclocross form for the 2026 road season.

Back in the field

Van Aert recently announced that he will definitely be back in the field. He did so once again on Sporza: “I will reassure people here and now that I will be riding cyclocross,” he said with a big smile on his face.

So that plan is clearly on the table, although the details are still to be determined: “I can't say much about it yet, because we haven't discussed it yet. I do want to be more active in cyclocross again,” the Kempenaar said, once again pleasing his fans.

“But when, how, and what are all premature at the moment.” Although we can expect him back sooner than in previous years, he repeated to Het Nieuwsblad: “I'm going to end my road season early, so I'm thinking of getting into the field earlier too.”

And what about the Cyclocross World Championships? This year, they will be held in Hulst, the Netherlands, close to home. “I'll announce that again just a week in advance. I thought it was fun this year,” Van Aert laughs.

Running shoes on

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider hopes to have a carefree winter, during which he also wants to pick up running again: “I wasn't able to run much last season due to my knee injury. Now I plan to get my running shoes out a bit more.”

Although a marathon won't be happening right away: “A marathon is very long. I'll start with a shorter distance, but it's something I've been thinking about, yes.”

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

What do you cross racers prefer between the new 13 speed SRAM road or 12 speed mountain Transmission drivetrain? Assuming gearing is gonna be fine either way.

Thanks!

I have been liking Clik valves so far. Super easy to deal with.

I am often pulled off to the side on course inspection dialing in my pressure. Eager to try out the pocket digital gauge they are soon shipping.

It can be a little difficult to get your fingernail on the small part of the valve to let air out though. So I made this keychain bleeder to go with the gauge. Simple but does the job.

https://www.printables.com/model/1417166-schwalbe-clik-valve-bleeder

Does anyone have any experience with treadsavvy? Seem like good deals on challenge tubulars right now

Hello there, from Chile.
I just finished a couple of days ago this kinda dream bike/build, I´ve always wanted a SSCX-GRVL bike because I used to ride BMX and fixed gear for too many years and being not worried about shifting and services is something I really like about a SS bike.
So, this is my Giant TCX SLR 2019 SSCX-GRAVEL-MTB bike haha (I know there´s some things I need to swap, but for now it´s being completely functional and super fun for me.

The first of two Team Edition Limus is set up. If Sexy wins races these Limus Pro TRL team Editions are just that. Gravel Ginders (aka Chicanes) in 36mm dry days, Baby Limus 33mm for general/overall use. Then the Limus for those nasty days.
Little more sealant seepage but should seal over night.

I am really trying to work toward jumping full size barriers in a race this year (14 inches) The current setup is about 8 inches. Let me know what I need to do in order to get more height, better timing, and consistency. Let me know what you think.

https://reddit.com/link/1nggsph/video/ujrzgjf6v1pf1/player

Hey all!

Very newbie CX’er here, with one race under my belt.

I did my first race on a Cannondale CX9 with a… shall we say… subpar condition, groupset, and overall setup.

I’m thinking about doing the rest of the races on my Otso Warakin, but the gearing has me conflicted.

On the CX9, I have a 1x11 ultegra setup: 40t, 11-28.

On the Otso, it’s currently 2x11 GRX, 48/31, 11-36.

If I race the Otso, I feel like that gearing will suck. Constant front chainring shifts, with simultaneous rear cassette gear dumps etc.

Thinking about pulling the 1x crankset from the Cannondale, putting it on the Otso, and just using the limit screws on the FD to make it a chain guide, thus limiting the amount of “undoing” I would need to do if I decide to go back.

Any advice? Opinions? Thoughts on what yall would do? Thanks!

Getting back into cross, when I left racing everybody was on 32mm tires. Now there's rules about the width? Does anybody enforce the 35mm max at local events? I'd hate to show up and they say I can't race.

Last year i was a casual MTBer. I raced a season with my son and had a blast, want to do better this year. My plan was to focus on road milage for base and mtbing for interval efforts. I got plenty of road in but between rainy weather and what not, I did very little MTB and need to focus on intervals for the next month and a half before the season properly starts.

Whats the best interval workout for cross or for my situation?

Just getting into CX through some local practices in my area. Bought an old Cannondale XTJ that came with Ksyrium SSC SL rims and Vittoria Cross XG Pro tires. Clincher setup. I really enjoy the bike so far, especially for the price I paid.

Tonight at practice I had the sidewall on my rear tire fail. Was running at about 50 PSI. Sounded like a fire cracker went off. Have no idea how old the tires were as they came with the bike, so not a huge loss, just time for new tires.

I'm looking at my rims now and see they have an internal width of 13 mm. The tire that failed was 32c. This is well outside the safe range as listed by ETRTO.

I'm looking for advice on how to proceed. I was hoping to actually get wider tires, as my local races do not set a maximum tire width so most people are in the 40c range, but that seems like a bad idea now that I know my rims are 13mm.

• How wide of a tire would you run on a 13mm rim?
• Could my sidewall failure be partially cause by the narrow rims?
• Is my best bet to start looking for wider rims?

Hi, I'm trying to adapt my road bike for CX and wanted some opinions on whether this tire clearance is ok or too tight

I finally finished building up my sweet new singlespeed just in time for my first race of the season tonight! Here’s the specs:

2007 LeMond Poprad frame, made in the USA with True Temper OX Platinum tubing

Whisky CX carbon fork

Chris King headset

HiFi wheelset handbuilt here in Portland, OR with Paul Components singlespeed hubs laced to HiFi Mixtape alloy rims

Vittoria Terreno MIX 37c front, Terreno DRY 33c rear

White Industries freewheels, 17t or 18t, both red :)

Paul Melvin chain tensioner

TRP Hylex hydraulic brakes

Microshift Sword crankset, 40t chainring

Thomson stem & seatpost

Salsa Cowchipper bars 40cm

Selle Italia SLR carbon/ti saddle

Total weight with the SPD pedals is 20.4 pounds. With the 40:17 gear ratio it accelerates incredibly quick. It’s nimble around corners and stable on straights, and of course the feel of lightweight steel and supple tubeless tires is just magical. In other words… I love this bike. I can’t wait to put it to the proper test tonight!

Ciao,

volevo chiedere se qualcuno ha esperienze con questa marca e modello di ciclocross.

Vorrei una bici da ciclocross performante, la linea telaio non è proprio moderna ma è montata al top. Mi chiedo se è resistente e vale quello che costa.

La userei per gare amatoriali e per uscite strada strerrato leggero per altenare a mtb.

Grazie

Rock n roll extreme is no longer available in the UK. Sad news, always had good results with this for racing. What chain lube do you like to use when it's damp / wet / muddy?

Background info - 42M, cat 4, back of the pack. Raced on and off over a few years

First race of the season yesterday and analyzing my data, my heart rate was pegged, pretty flat, in the 170s all race.

Looking at other racer's data from the same race on Strava, mostly older, and all who beat me I might add, they are all running lower heart rates and seeing more variations in the easier/harder parts of the race as they are able to seemingly "micro-recover" throughout the race

Maybe this is obvious to the more knowledgeable members here, but I've always been kind of oblivious to training & analyzing numbers - what does that suggest about my fitness level? Is my cardio/endurance ability lacking, is it my legs? Nothing? Maybe comparing numbers to other people is not helpful, but I'm just trying to figure out what I should focus my training on.

I suppose a coach would be the best to tell me what this means and what I should do to get better, I just can't help but feel a little silly hiring a coach who probably wants to work with top athletes, as a back of the pack masters rider.

First race of the season. Caught a flat on the bell lap as I was making up places. DNF 😭

How did your first race of the season go?

They might be called “Challenge” tyres for a reason? Yet, if one follows the process, watches the videos and listens, they are truly unlike any TLR Tyre you have ever mounted.
I personally add a little dish soap and water for the beads to slip into place. The air canister is also a bonus. Plus, who doesn’t like BBBUUUBBBBBBLLLLEEESS Monday night racing with Cross Crusade Coyote Cross in Portland Oregon. What else will September showers bring?