Cyclocross: Mathieu van der Poel has made the switch from road racing bike to his cyclocross bike very well. The Dutchman triumphed confidently at his season premiere in Ruddervoorde.
Marcel Meisen turns 13.
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus) is back. For the first time this season, the 24-year-old Dutchman measured himself against his opponents in cyclocross yesterday. At the Superprestige race in Ruddervoorde, Belgium, he immediately set an exclamation mark. By 23 or 36 seconds he could Lauren's Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) and Toon Aerts (Telenet – Baloise) behind. The dominator of the season with seven wins already, Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal), was only fifth. Mathieu van der Poel thus won the event for the fourth time in a row. The German champion Marcel Meisen (Corendon – Circus) was 3th, 32:13 minutes behind.
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Wout van Aert is still out through injury
Unfortunately, this cyclocross season will be less of the usual duel between Mathieu van der Poel and wout van aert come. Quite apart from the fact that both have now established themselves in road cycling and will therefore contest fewer races on the cyclocross calendar, Wout van Aert is still suffering from the consequences of a fall. The Belgian got stuck on a barrier in a right-hand bend in the individual time trial of the Tour de France. Although he's already training again, he won't be able to start racing again until the middle of the cyclocross season.
Mathieu van der Poel: "There is still a lot of work to do"
How sovereign Mathieu van der Poel won yesterday's race only became clear through his statements in the interview afterwards. According to his own statements, the Dutchman did not feel particularly well. Despite his win, he said things can only get better from here.
Mathieu van der Poel:
“It was difficult and very technical. I've been looking for the cross feeling all along, but haven't found it. I didn't feel like I was going fast. That's why I rode my own pace and sometimes even left a gap. It was enough, but there is still a lot of work to do. The result confirms that I trained well. It can only get better from now on. But of course I was good. If you're not, you can't win a cross race."