Wout van Aert: “I’m feeling good, and my winter has gone well. The World Championships only recently came into my mind and after Maasmechelen the Belgian team coach, my coach at Team Visma | Lease a Bike and I decided to compete. I am excited to start in such a beautiful race, and I think that this extra boost is doing me good in the lead-up to bigger goals on the road. Obviously the preparation has been very different, but I’ll give it my best.”

Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer: “Wout is a true cyclocross enthusiast. He indicated that he wanted to race. We discussed it, weighed everything together, and as a team, we fully support Wout.”