The mooted late-season showdown between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aart will not take place in the Super 8 Classic on Saturday after the Belgian withdrew from the race.
After winning a stage and overall of the final round in Britain, Van Aert was scheduled to start the 203.6km race in Brackel to continue his preparation for the European UEC Road Championship and UCI Gravel World Championship.
However, his Jumbo-Visma team announced on Friday morning that Van Aart would not take part in the race because he was “not fully fit”.
“Wout van Aert was originally scheduled to start in the Super 8 Classic, but he is not fully fit,” Jumbo-Visma said on Twitter.
“He is now focusing on his other goals for the latter part of the season.”
Van Aart, who turned 29 on Friday, will next race in the time trial (September 20) and road race (September 24) in the European Road Championship before heading to Italy and the Bernocchi Trophy (October 2) and Gran Piemonte (October 5). ) before Gravel Worlds near Treviso (October 8).
The racing series will conclude Van Aert’s season before he turns his attention to a cyclocross campaign at the end of the year.
Van Aart enjoyed a successful season although perhaps not to the levels he had hoped for.
He missed Milan-San Remo (3rd), the Tour of Flanders (4th) and Paris-Roubaix (3rd) as well as stage wins in the Tour de France and the World Road Championships, where he again finished second behind his career-high finish. Longtime rival Van der Poel.
Van Aert had 25 top-five finishes during the season, including victories at the E3 Saxo Classic, the Belgian time trial, stage and overall titles at the Tour of Britain. He will be hoping to add to his list of victories over the coming weeks, with a European road or time trial title and a gravel world title in his sights.
In Van Aart’s absence, Van der Poel will headline the Super 8 Classic, which is scheduled to conclude its season at the Franco-Belgium Circuit, the Paris Tours and the mountain bike test event at the Paris Olympics.
However, he will only race the four if he feels his form is up to par, having said after the Grand Prix de Wallonie that he may end his season earlier than planned.
Van Aert’s teammate Christophe Laporte is also set to race the Super 8 Classic alongside Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Arnaud Démare in his sixth outing with Arkéa-Samsic.
Lotto-Destny runner Arnaud De Lie, however, is another absentee from the race as his team confirmed he will not be taking part on Friday morning.
Wout van Aert (@WoutvanAert) was also scheduled to start in the Super 8 Classic, but is not fully fit. He is now focusing on his other goals in the latter part of the season.September 15, 2023
