Mathieu van der Poel won again this Friday in Loenhout, despite… a broken saddle. The cyclocross world champion recounts his misadventure.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) spoke of a “quite difficult” race after his victory in Loenhout on Friday, 5th of the seven rounds of the Exact Cross challenge. The Dutchman, who brought his total to 4 successes in as many cross-country races this season, nevertheless dominated the competition by taking the lead less than five minutes after the start.
“On this course, it’s not easy to tell the difference. This track doesn’t allow you to ride at full speed with anyone, but I like riding here. Especially considering the state of the circuit today.»
After an initial acceleration, the world champion is suddenly joined by Laurens Sweeck. “I had no luck. My saddle broke and I couldn’t ride hard until I bought a new bike. I certainly didn’t let Sweeck come back on purpose. It’s very strong of him to have been able to catch up. I continued to do what I wanted and managed to widen the gap after a while. It was quite cold here in Loenhout and my hands were cold. After yesterday’s cross country in Gavere, we had another race that was quite difficult to manage. But I can now take a day to recover before the round in Besançon.»
The next cyclocross event is scheduled for Sunday with the 8th of 12 rounds of the World Cup in Besançon, France. The penultimate event labeled Exact Cross is scheduled for February 5 in Maldegem, the first meeting after the world championships in Liévin on February 2 in the North of France.
Mathieu Van der Poel cyclocross Loenhout sells the summary of the victory
