[Cyclo-cross] Van der Poel on his way

The world champion easily won his fourth cyclo-cross in four races.

Wout van Aert made his comeback on Friday in Loenhout (Belgium), but he only finished fourth. Since last Sunday, Van der Poel has had a string of successes at Zonhoven, Mol and Gavere, in the absence of the Belgian, who was forced to delay the start of the season while recovering from an illness. His presence did nothing to change Van der Poel’s overwhelming dominance. The world champion quickly took off on the very muddy terrain of Loenhout and offered himself a new solo rider, in front of a large Belgian public forced to once again witness the supremacy of its neighbor.

Van der Poel won in just over 58 minutes, around fifteen seconds ahead of Belgians Thibau Nys and Laurens Sweeck and 36 seconds ahead of Van Aert. Already left behind, the latter definitively lost contact on the second lap by sliding in a turn, while he had the bike on his shoulder. Another technical error sent him to the ground again on the last lap, while he had moved up to second place. Van der Poel himself had suffered a small scare the previous lap when he fell after hitting an advertising barrier in a corner, but he was able to restart without damage.

The Dutchman, 29, plans to compete in eleven races before trying to win the world championship for the seventh time, on February 2 in Liévin, Pas-de-Calais. His next outing is scheduled for Sunday in Besançon.