Wout van Aert said midway through his cyclocross campaign that it will take some time to get used to his new bike setup, which will switch from Shimano to a Sram 1x groupset as part of a major equipment change by his Jumbo-Visma team.

Although the cyclocross season straddles the winter and New Year, sponsorship deals will begin on January 1, and Jumbo-Visma revealed a number of new equipment suppliers.

After a long relationship with Shimano, the Dutch team will switch to the Sram Groupset in 2023. Road riders will have time to get used to the new setup, but Van Aert will have to make the switch at the X20 Trophy race in Herentals on January 3.

After using his familiar Shimano race setup just four days ago, Van Aert will race his Cervelo R5-CX bike with SRAM's top-level groupset on Tuesday.

While he no longer needs to shift gears on the front, changing gears on the rear cassette requires changing lever commands.

"It takes some getting used to," Van Aert told Belgian broadcaster Sporza.

"I usually run on autopilot. So it's definitely possible to shift the wrong gear in Herental. But you will get used to that new shifting system very quickly."

Van Aert also noted that he used to slam with the Verandas Willems-Krelan team before joining Jumbo Visma in 2019.

"I still know the system and the feeling will come back soon. Adjustments, he said, are more difficult for mechanics than for riders. It's just a little disappointing to have to change from one "cross" to another, but that in itself isn't too difficult either."

Mathieu Heyboer, head of performance at Jumbo Visma, claimed that the new gear system will be a big advantage.

"It's lighter because there's only one chainring, it reduces the chance of the chain falling off, and you don't get mud between the two rings," he told Nieuwsblad.

"In principle, you have twice as many gears with two front chainrings, but the Sram rear cassettes have bigger teeth: from 10 to 28, 30, and 33 gears. Indeed, the option of 10 is new to us and opens up the possibility of choosing greater resistance in some races.

The new groupset will feature Sram disc brakes, and Van Aat will also switch wheels from Shimano Dura-Ace to top-level Reserve, a brand under PON Holdings, the same parent company as Cervelo. The Belgian champion will stick with his familiar Vittoria/Dugast tires.

On the road, Jumbo Visma will use Nimbl shoes and Wahoo Speedplay pedals, with new shoes and pedals following the end of his contract with Shimano; Nimbl does not manufacture off-road shoes and Wahoo does not manufacture Speedplay pedals for off-road use. They do not. It is unconfirmed what the Belgian will use in Tuesday's race, but the image above shows Shimano XTR pedals on the bike.

While adjustments will take time, Van Aert is optimistic, given that new teammate Femme van Empel, who moved from the Shimano-sponsored Pauwels Sauzen team, won the GP Sven Nys on New Year's Day, the debut race for Jumbo Visma. Van Aert has room for optimism.