While everyone was expecting a duel Van Aert–Van der Poelthe latter did not really take place during theExact Cross de Loenhout this Friday. Mathieu Van der Poelpresent for several days already in the cyclo-cross events, did not leave the slightest chance to his opponents, quickly taking the lead of the race and thus winning his 4th victory in four outings. In its wake, a Belgian trio composed of Laurens Sweeck, Thibau Nys et Wout Van Aert fought for a long time to hold at gunpoint MVDP but will never have succeeded in making him doubt. The fall of WVA in the final of the race allowed Nys et Sweeck to take 2nd and 3rd place respectively. For its recovery, Wout Van Aert finished 4th.
Video – Mathieu Van der Poel victorious the day before in Gavere
“It wasn’t easy to make the difference”
Very quickly lonely at the front, Mathieu Van der Poel saw Laurens Sweeck joining him at the front of the race in the 3rd lap at the cost of a big effort that the Belgian quickly paid off, jumping in the face of the power imposed by the World champion. “My saddle was broken, so I had to change bikes” explained the runnerAlpecin-Deceuninck. “But Sweeck also rode hard, I definitely didn’t let him come back. After that I just had to keep doing my thing and then I could run alone at the front. It worked. It was a difficult race, it wasn’t easy to make the difference.” he admitted.
“It’s a course where it’s difficult to really ride much faster than someone else, because you can quickly make mistakes. Plus, my hands were cold for the first time. So it was certainly the most difficult cross so far, especially after the difficult cross yesterday (Thursday in Gavere, editor’s note).”
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