Mathieu van der Poel won another cyclo-cross World Cup race on Friday, continuing his unbeaten run. Things were a bit more difficult in Gavere, Belgium, than the previous cyclo-cross races: the 30-year-old rider slipped out of his click pedal at the start and therefore had to make up some ground.
Van der Poel quickly moved further forward after the start and was back in the leading group of six riders at the second passage. After a number of laps, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider took the lead together with Belgian Thibau Nys.
Mistake
Van der Poel benefited from a mistake by Nys in the seventh lap, who came out of his click pedal on the long climb. Nys was then unable to get close to Van der Poel, who was able to claim another victory. It is his fifth victory in five World Cup races. Nys eventually crossed the finish line about twenty seconds behind Van der Poel. Dutchman Tibor Del Grosso came in third.
Van der Poel spoke of a difficult match. “I looked for the right lines in the sand and the good legs. I only found them at the end,” he said after the cyclocross. “I rode cautiously at first. Thibau was very strong. I didn’t think I could release him until I saw that he made a mistake.”
On the way to a record
Van der Poel previously won the World Cup competitions in Namur, Antwerp and Koksijde. With the competitions, Van der Poel is preparing for the Cyclo-Cross World Championships on February 1 in Hulst. He can become cyclo-cross world champion for the eighth time in the Zeeland municipality. He now shares the record with Belgian Erik De Vlaeminck, who also won seven world titles.
The start did not go entirely smoothly for Van der Poel: