Cyclocross: Pidcock stops Van Aert’s endless streak

Sensational in the Netherlands: Van Aert loses a cyclocross race! It happened in Hulst, the Netherlands, where the Belgian champion ended a streak of seven consecutive victories, which began on December 4th. To triumph was the British talent Thomas Pidcock, 22, another great off-road protagonist (in the cross he had already won on December 18 in Rucphen, in Tokyo 2020 he had won the gold in the MTB) and road so much that in May he will make the his debut at the Giro d’Italia with his Ineos Grenadiers, alongside Richard Carapaz and Tao Geoghegan Hart. Van Aert was held back by a mechanical problem with the chain on the first lap, he lost a lot of time (he restarted from 40th position), and despite a great recovery he did not go beyond fourth place. Behind Pidcock, who found himself wonderfully on the technical course, the Belgian Eli Iserbyt (at 12 “) and the Dutch Lars Van der Haar (at 33”) finished. In the women’s race another success for the Dutch Lucinda Brand.