Wout Van Aert finished fifth in Sunday's Belgian Championships and looks set to compete in the World Cyclocross Championships in Dubendorf. The Jumbo-Visma rider was competing in only his third race since returning to competition after a major crash that forced him to abandon the 2019 Tour de France.

Van Aert, who finished fifth in Azencross and fourth in Cyclocross Gurregem, continued his streak of top-five finishes in Antwerp on Sunday when Laurens Sweck took the champion's jersey. Van Aert was looking for his fourth Belgian title, but not to win the race.

According to Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab), "It wasn't even my goal today. I still need a lot of training to be the Wout Van Art I was before."

"It's logical. I've come a very long way. I'm happy with where we're at, I didn't think we'd be this far along."

Van Aat suffered a deep cut on his upper right leg from a severe crash during the time trial to Pau on stage 13 of the Tour and underwent two surgeries. He spent more than two months off the bike and belatedly started the cyclocross season in the last week of December.

The 25-year-old said he would wait to compete in the World Championships until after the Belgian Championships. While his participation has not yet been confirmed, his performance on Sunday was enough to convince us that he will be on the start line in Switzerland on February 2.

Van Aert has yet to confirm when he will return to road racing before the Classics, but he has been attending the training camp of his team Jumbo Visma this week.

"I have a great desire to compete in the World Championships," Van Aert said. "The World Championships is a special race, and if I plan well, that race should fit into my schedule. I'm going to try to get better over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I leave with the team for a training camp near Alicante, Spain. But I'm hoping to have some good news this weekend."

While Van Aert was battling it out in Antwerp, Mathieu van der Poel was calmly going for his sixth straight Dutch cyclo-cross title. The Alpecin Phoenix rider will be the overwhelming favorite to hold the rainbow jersey at the world championships, while Van Aert has won the last three cyclocross world titles, but last year he had to settle for a silver medal behind Van der Poel.

"At the moment it's hard to beat him. No one can touch his level," Van Aert said. 'But a championship must always be a race.'