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Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Gianni Vermeersch has mainly focused on the road in recent years, but the 33-year-old Flemish will make his debut for his new employer Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe during his old love: cyclo-cross. He does not yet know exactly which competitions he will participate in. He will be present at the Cyclo-Cross Championships, he tells, among others CyclingFlits.
“Jewel”, Vermeersch answers with a smile whether or not he will be racing this winter. To add with a joke: “Everything at the Belgian championship! No, no. I don’t know exactly when I’ll start, but I definitely want to ride the Belgian Championships. I just don’t know how it’s going yet. It’s always difficult with Erwin Vervecken, it’s always difficult in cross country (laughs, ed.). In the ideal scenario I will do four to five crosses this winter. Until about mid-January and therefore certainly no World Cup.”
Two years ago, Vermeersch came second in both the Kasteelcross (Zonnebeke) and the Azencross in Loenhout and his last cross dates from the most recent Belgian championship. Previously, he focused solely on the cross program in the winter, but Vermeersch was never a frequent winner – partly due to the presence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert.
Even now it seems that he mainly tries to improve his fitness in cyclo-cross, instead of competing for victory. Even in his best years that was difficult. In the Cyclocross Ranking of Cyclingflash we find the Belgian in seventh place.
TeamAlpecin – Deceuninck
SpecialtyHill
photo: fotoperburo Cor Vos
