Dutch champion Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the fifth round of the DVV Trofee in Antwerp on a dry Saturday afternoon. In the twelfth and final lap World champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice) was dropped by Van der Poel in the final sand section. Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) rode a strong race and was a close third.
"It was so fast and we were matching each other; it was useless to try and get away. The last sand section would be decisive. It was a hard-fought duel, riding on the razor's edge," Van der Poel told Sporza after his victory.
Van der Poel is no factor in the general classification after an off day at Koppenbergcross, so Van Aert remains comfortably in the lead of the time-based overall classification of the DVV Trophy. Pauwels is second at 2:34 back.
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The fast race on the course next to the Schelde river banks came down to a battle between Van der Poel, archrival Wout Van Aert and Kevin Pauwels. Once again, Van der Poel and Van Aert were the strongest riders but whenever the duo took a breather, Pauwels managed to return. Pauwels' ambition showed early on when he clinched the hole shot ahead of Van Aert and Van der Poel. Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) got stuck on the inside of the first corner and never returned in the top 10. His teammate Toon Aerts (Telenet-Fidea) took the initiative in the second lap.
"I spent a lot of energy in trying to win the intermediate sprint. I only managed second place and needed to recover for a long time," Aerts said.
Just before the sprint Van der Poel passed Aerts at the barriers, showing off his fast bunny-hopping skills and taking the 15 bonus seconds. Aerts captured ten seconds and Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux-Napoleon Games) the final five seconds. After the race both Van der Poel and Van Aert said attempts to escape were futile. Still, they both tried their luck during the race. Van der Poel got a gap in the first part of the course during the third and fifth laps, clearly proving faster over two steep climbs and the barriers than Van Aert.
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