Wout van Aert starts extended break before cyclocross season with an 11km run

Wout van Aert may well be on an extended break from riding his bike after finishing in the top 10 of the recent Paris-Roubaix but that hasn't stopped him uploading his runs to Strava.

Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) uploaded an 11.19km run taking just over 50 minutes south of the Lille in Belgium, east of the city of Antwerp.

Even though the weather was apparently rain, it didn't put the Belgian off from getting out and doing some form of exercise in his off-season with Vincent Van Rooy, who joined Van Aert on the run.

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Van Aert averaged 4-33 minutes per kilometre and his fastest kilometre was at 4-20/km, which is a very good pace for an amateur runner.

Van Aert is taking a break after a very long season including the 2020/21 cyclocross season before heading into Strade Bianche and the rest of the road season.

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Van Aert's trainer Marc Lamberts said: "We’d rather a week longer than a week less. I don’t care what his shape and weight he will be afterwards.

"Wout will not do anything for three or four weeks, which will cause him to lose all, if not much of, his current fitness. That’s okay. I don’t care what his shape and weight will be afterward. If necessary, we will rebuild from scratch."

It is not known if Van Aert will be taking part at the American cyclocross races that open the World Cup and Superprestige season in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Speaking after finishing seventh at Paris-Roubaix, Van Aert said: "I’ll be gone for a while - it’s been an extremely demanding season. It’s been a few years since I took a long break – I’m planning to take that break now."

It is not known where Van Aert will join the cyclocross season, if he does at all, and whether or not he'll be riding the CX World Championships before heading into the 'Opening Weekend' of Classics at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in February.