Mathieu van der Poel immediately celebrated his return to cyclo-cross with an impressive victory. The world champion rode away from the rest in the cross in Herentals from the start and rode to victory on his own. At the finish he had a lead of 27 seconds over the British Thomas Pidcock.
Lars van der Haar finished third. The 28-year-old Van der Poel has been on a training camp in Spain in recent weeks and the focus was on the road. The all-rounder told Sporza before the start that he had jumped on his cross bike three times in recent weeks.
He apparently did not need more practice for his first match, because Van der Poel showed no signs of a lack of rhythm. He rode so fast the first lap that no one could keep up with him.
Halfway through, the Brabander, who also won the world road title this year, made a slip. He quickly picked up his bicycle and rode on undisturbed. His lead barely diminished.
“It might have been boring for the spectators, but not for me.”
Van der Poel has recently said something about his ambitions. He wants to be at his best at the beginning of February, when he goes for his sixth rainbow jersey at the World Cup in Tabor (Czech Republic).
He sees improving the record of seven world titles, held by Belgian Eric De Laeminck, as a major challenge for the future.
“It may have been boring for the spectators, but not for me. I enjoyed it. Nice to be back in the field,” Van der Poel told Sporza afterwards.
“I felt quite strong and I immediately found my rhythm. I knew that the climb on the Ski Mountain was the most difficult part and I immediately managed to open a nice gap there. After that I could choose my own pace.”
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