Wout van Aert returned to cyclocross this weekend with two podium finishes at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup opener in Kortrijk and Tabor.

The Jumbo-Visma all-rounder, who finished third in the Urban Cross in Kortrijk, the second round of the X2O Trophy, on Saturday, said he had suffered in his first race since finishing second in the Tour of Flanders in October.

Van Aert, who started at the back of the pack, said he moved up as the race progressed and saved his energy by riding in the slipstream of other riders.

"It was painful," he said. I tried to keep a low profile for the first half of the race, but after the second lap I started to feel the difference between keeping up and racing my own race."

"I really took advantage of being behind someone else. That way I was able to move forward smoothly."

By falling back a bit at the start, he was able to fight for the podium on the last lap with Michael Van Tulenhout (Pauwels Sausen Bingoel) and Lars van der Haar (Telenet Baloise Lions).

"I absolutely would have signed up for this result beforehand. I did not expect this. To be honest, the puncture of Vanthourenhout and Toon Arts also played a part.

"Every race has a story, but it's nice to be on the podium right away.

He will repeat the feat at Tabor on Sunday, traveling by private jet from Belgium to the Czech Republic with several other competitors.

His result improved, at least numerically, by a day, finishing 12 seconds behind winner Vanthourenhout while European champion Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sausen Bingor) was in second place.

Once again, Van Aert made up for his slow start and was forced to fight for the lead in the final laps. Rather than being in great form, however, he attributed the result to grit and perseverance

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"I was on the limit the whole race. I had to chase him in the beginning, but he was fast"

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"In the end, a little bit of guts and patience showed up and that got me on the podium. But to win you need something to go with it. This race was more about character; I was really fighting."

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