This winter Lars Boom will do at least four cyclo-cross races and possibly six. The former world champion will be in action in Antwerp, Bredene, Loenhout and Surhuisterveen and hopes that national coach Johan Lammerts will select him for the World Cups in Namur and Heusden-Zolder. "I do not even rule the World Championships out,” he tells WielerFlits.

Until December 13, Boom will train in Spain and then he will travel to Kazakhstan for Astana’s team presentation. "Therefore Antwerp was the first opportunity to do a cross. I will mainly have to work on the technical aspect but it is no different. Hopefully I can ride in Namur, and Heusden-Zolder is just a nice race to do. As opposed to this Loenhout is again a very heavy cross, but it should suit me. I picked Bredene because Paul Herygers would like to see me there. The same applies to Surhuisterveen although I think that that race is getting better and better. Not all top riders will be there but it is still fun to rider there.”

That Boom will use cyclo-cross for his preparation has a clear reason. "Sometimes I am missing a bit of explosiveness. It can also work on that on the road, but I notice that I've gained it from cyclo-cross in the past. Sometimes I miss it a lot. By doing some cross training and a few races, it will definitely come back. And that should give me an advantage in the spring classics. By doing these races, I hope to be take a step up in those races and to be better than in previous years.”

However, we cannot expect to see the Astana rider in the mix right from the start as he needs to work on his technical skills. ”I cannot say much about it, that's tough. It depends on how it will go in the Scheldecross in Antwerp. In terms of technique, I notice during the training that I have a lot to make up. If I have to compensate for that, it takes a lot of energy and you can quickly make mistakes. Of course I will not hold anything back when I am near the front in a race. I'm just trying to get on the podium. But I do not assume that I will succeed very quickly.”

During the cross season, January is always the most important month due to its various championships. "In any case, I won’t do the Dutch Championships because I will be at the Tour Down Under with Astana,” the six-time winner says. “With the team, I will travel to Australia on January 6 because we found out last year that we had arrived a little too late. That's why they want to go a little earlier now. And that's a shame because I don’t just want to do the Championships but would also love to ride on the beach in Egmond-Pier-Egmond. Unfortunately, that’s now impossible.  Furthermore, we still have to wait and see when we will return because I think that's just a few days before the Worlds. That makes it very difficult. "

“I think we first have to see how it goes next month,” Boom says cautiously. "Australia is simply to prepare for the road. If I do well in the crosses that I will ride, I can possibly ride there due to my good condition.” After the Tour Down Under, Boom has relatively much time to hone his form as Astana will skip the Belgian opening weekend (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne) in late February. That makes room for a possible World Cyclo-Cross Championships. "But we also have to see whether the team finds it right so close to the Tour Down Under. They now accept that I will do six races and that is already very pleasant. If that goes well, then I will ask whether I can do the World Championships. But we have to look at that. In any case I do not rule it out." Like last year Boom will use Paris-Nice in preparation for the spring classics after a high-altitude training camp in Tenerife.

Boom has no points in the UCI cyclo-cross rankings, but that is not a problem for World Cup races and the World Championships. The Netherlands may select eight riders for both events. For the World Cup race in Koksijde, those riders were Mathieu van der Poel, Thijs van Amerongen, Twan van den Brand, Stan Godrie, Lars van der Haar, Corné van Kessel, David van der Poel and Niels Wubben. One of these riders will therefore possibly be sacrificed to make roome for the Astana rider but that partly depends on Boom’s performance in Antwerp.

"I have one spot for Lars so I will be watching,” coach Johan Lammerts tells WielerFlits from South Africa. "The coming period will make it clear. I’m not going to make any statements now. We always announce the selection a week before a World Cup race. The same goes for the Worlds where Lars is also an option." If Boom wants to ride the Worlds, Lammerts can give him a hand. "Johan is always open, of course. If I want to ride, I can hopefully add value to the Dutch selection.  It depends very much on what happens during the next six races and how that goes.”