Antwerp, Belgium. Ninth citation of Cyclocross World Championships. That was the setting that the three tenors of this sport chose for their first meeting this season. As is the case every year at this time, the expectations were very high, especially when each of them was guaranteed to have brought one or two wins to this course: Wout van Aert won in Essen, Mathieu van der Poel devastated Herentals and Mol and Tom Pidcock He did the same in Namur. However, among so many exhibitions there was one common denominator: the two Van der Poel’s victories came with one of his arch-rivals in the race, while Van Aert and Pidcock had no such resistance. An omen…
And this has been confirmed by the current rainbow jersey of the specialty on Belgian territory. Devastating victory, coming back from last place (he suffered several mishaps) until he reached the finish line alone with a disastrous lead. He completed three races in his cyclocross calendar and just as many overwhelming triumphs. Another league, another dimension. There was no new chapter in his never-ending rivalry with Van Aert (2nd), who crossed the finish line 29 seconds behind the Dutchman. Eli Iserbyt completed the podium, Pidcock had to settle for eighth place and Felipe Orts took 12th place as the best Spaniard of the day.
Van der Poel unintentionally caused some tension in the race. Starting signal, maximum performance and… Foot off the pedal! He was relegated to the back of the group, although Pidock fared even worse. While trying to leave the first sandpit on the route, the Brit suffered an unexpected fall. The The small pile-up also damaged Van der Poel, who lost further seconds. Van Aert was unaware of all these problems and was in first place at the end of the first lap.
From behind, Van der Poel activated his “ultra instinct”. All you had to do was watch him climb the stairs, taking them two at a time. Unbound. The comeback was a matter of time. Pidcock and Van Aert were wonderful witnesses as they saw the rainbow remove their stickers. In the third round it was between Vanthourenhout and Iserbyt, that up until that moment they had changed leadership several times.
There was only one question left to answer: Would he take a breather for a few laps or would he do something? Unfortunately, “MVP” isn’t nonsense. And the season has just begun… He erased the emotions in one fell swoop. And that’s it, Why wait when there’s gas left? Unanswerable rush before the conclusion of the third round and See you soon, Lucas. In the mortal race, Van Aert, who switched from less to more, won the duel against Iserbyt. which solidified his lead in the overall World Cup. Next stop: January 26th with the World Cup event in Gavere. Will Van der Poel give a ceasefire?
World Championship General (9 of 14 events)
1. Eli Iserbyt (BÉL) – 255 points
2. Lars van der Haar (PBa) – 191
3. Joris Nieuwenhuis (PBa) – 188
23 Felipe Orts – 38
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