European champion Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the seventh Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup round in Heusden-Zolder (Belgium) on Boxing Day. After a week full of doubts, the 22-year-old rider set the cyclo-cross records straight again.
The Dutch ace finished solo on the dry and fast course, having time to display a wheelie at the finish line. Belgian riders Laurens Sweeck (ERA-Circus) and a disappointed world champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) joined the Dutchman on the podium. It was the fifth World Cup win of the season for Van der Poel. Nevertheless, he expressed his relief since he received a beating from Van Aert at the World Cup round in Namur last week.
“It was really nice to win again today after my bad race in Namur last week,” Van der Poel said in the post-race flash interview. "I wasn’t faking illness. There was no other reason to skip Sint-Niklaas. It wasn’t possible. In hindsight it was the best call to make at that moment."
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A week of illness for Van der Poel, combined with a good training camp and convincing performances for Van Aert, seemed to have turned the cyclo-cross season around. The domination from Van der Poel seemed over and Van Aert appeared to be back in the running. Before the start, Van der Poel was in doubt. He skipped Saturday’s race in Sint-Niklaas because he wasn’t capable just yet. Van Aert had a bag full of confidence after finally being able to get a few wins.
During the opening lap, Van der Poel set the pace. Van Aert was glued on his wheel, and also the Telenet Fidea Lions’ duo Lars van der Haar and Daan Soete were able to keep up. At the backend of the course, the Telenet-duo had to set foot on the ground while the top guns rode up the steep climb. During the second lap, a confident Van Aert put Van der Poel in trouble.
The Belgian rider even rode away from the Dutch rider after the latter had a hiccup at the set of stairs. Van der Poel managed to close the gap back down with a big effort on the long finishing straight of the former F1 car racing circuit.
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