After a tumultuous race, Wout Van Aert (Belgium) extended his cyclo-cross world title in Bieles, Luxembourg. After a week with freezing temperatures, thaw came and a massive amount of rocks surfaced at the reshaped industrial area. Countless mechanical problems ruined the race in the Elite men's race, taking out Van Aert’s major opponent Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), who finished as runner-up at long distance. Kevin Pauwels (Belgium) won the battle for third place at more than two minutes from winner Van Aert.
The 22-year-old winner overcame knee problems that kept him off the bike shortly before the championships. In the end, there was no straightforward duel, with Van Aert winning the gear battle. He opted for old-fashioned green Michelin tubulars and punctured only once during the race, whereas Van der Poel punctured at least four times.
“I really didn’t expect this," Van Aert said in the post-race flash interview. "Last week I was a week without bike. It seemed like nobody believed me. It was not the best preparation. I just wanted to give full gas for one hour. It’s also a pity that bad luck is with Mathieu when he has a flat tire. Of course I couldn’t wait for that. I’m so happy with my second world title."
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Early on, Van der Poel was displaying excellent form. The Dutch 22-year-old powered away and quickly opened up a gap on his rivals. Van Aert struggled early on and found himself at fifteen seconds from the leader after the opening lap.
“I thought it would be a race for second place but then in the second lap I found my good rhythm," Van Aert said.
Van der Poel punctured in the second, third and fourth lap, and was caught back by Van Aert in that lap. Halfway the race, after four laps, the top duo was 43 seconds ahead of Michael Vanthourenhout (Belgium), Corné van Kessel (Netherlands), Lars van der Haar (Netherlands), Tim Merlier (Belgium), Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) and Kevin Pauwels (Belgium).
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