Updated, 10/5.
Now that he is back in Europe, things are settling down a bit for three-time world champion Wout van Aert.
The day before boarding a plane to Wisconsin two weeks ago, Van Aert terminated his contract with his Crelan-Charles cyclocross team. As we documented in our profile of his Stevens Super Prestige, Van Aert had to scramble to put equipment together to race at the two U.S. World Cups.
The racing in the U.S. went so-so for the World Champion. He finished second in both Waterloo and Iowa City, but he cracked in the second half of each race while battling with Toon Aerts.
While in Waterloo, Van Aert mentioned that his team back in Europe was working on putting together sponsors so he could race the rest of the 2018/19 season.
On Friday, Van Aert announced he has signed with the Cibel-Cebon Offroad Team—a one-man program for Van Aert—for the remainder of this cyclocross season. Other sponsors include Caps, Domo Elektro, Heylen Vastgoed and G & V Energy Group.
Cibel-Cebon is a continental road team that is now branching out into the off-road market with the signing of Van Aert. There are conflicting reports about the team’s future on the road.
According to a story from Veldritkrant.be, the signing is for this cyclocross season, and Van Aert’s road team for 2019 is still uncertain. Van Aert signed with the LottoNL-Jumbo WorldTour team beginning on January 1, 2020, but since he severed ties with Sniper Cycling, he currently does not have a home for the 2019 road campaign.
Ready for a new chapter #cibelcebonoffroad #fueledbyCAPS 📸 @kristoframon pic.twitter.com/hE12ZSCgWF
— Wout van Aert (@WoutvanAert) October 5, 2018