Mathieu Van der Poel (BKCP-Corendon) put on an impressive display of power to take out the victory in the Zolder round of the World Cup, on the same circuit where the Dutch rider will defend his rainbow jersey next month. Van der Poel topped Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) and Lars van der Haar (Giant-Alpecin), with Klaas Vantornout out-sprinted for fourth by Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea). World Cup leader Wout Van Aert could only manage 8th on the day, but it was enough to hold onto his white jersey by 16 points from Van der Haar.
The dry and fast course in the Terlaemen township kept the race largely together for the first half of the race, but eventually Van der Haar and Van der Poel used their speed to create a gap. Pauwels fought his way to the leaders, making it three well-matched riders. The decisive moment came when Van der Haar was confronted with a flat tyre in the penultimate lap, and Van der Poel seized the moment.
“It was really hard to make a difference. It was just before the hardest part of the course with the running section and the uphill I saw that Lars had a flat tyre. I thought that it was the right moment to make the move because I had the feeling that Lars was the strongest, a bit stronger than me this day [sic]. It’s a race that really suits him,” Van der Poel said.
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Belgian champion Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games), Tim Merlier (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) and Clément Venturini (Cofidis) surged away at the end of the opening lap, but Van der Poel closed the gap on the three leaders on the second lap, using his superior climbing abilites. Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) and Lars van der Haar were the only riders who were able to keep up. World Cup leader Van Aert seemed to have an off day, and wasn’t close enough to the front to follow the move. Van Aert was also unable to follow Pauwels as he bridged up to the lead group on the thrid lap.
Pauwels dangled behind dual attacks from Van der Poel and Van der Haar, and for most of the fourth lap he chased solo, finally bridging up at the start of lap five of nine. Van der Poel sensed Pauwels' arrival, and knew he had to keep pushing. “I knew he rode his own pace," Van der Poel said of Pauwels. "What I predicted ahead of the race came true, that Kevin and Lars would be my biggest rivals on this course."
Just before hitting the penultimate lap Van der Poel accelerated on a steep run-up and the steep climb that followed. He gained a handful of seconds, but neither Van der Haar nor Pauwels cracked and both bridged back up when Van der Poel eased up. One lap later Van der Poel repeated his acceleration, but Van der Haar was unable to follow because of his puncture. Pauwels kept the pressure on the world champion, but was unable to bring him back before the line.
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