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Mathieu van der Poel’s six-race unbeaten streak became seven in Hulst on Saturday, with the world champion once again streets ahead of the rest of the field in what was round 11 of the UCI cyclocross World Cup.
Billed beforehand as another showdown between himself, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), his task became considerably easier after Pidcock crashed on the first corner and Van Aert slid out and dropped his chain on lap two. He was forced to change his bike then and once again later in the race, eventually trailing in fifth.
In the end Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar and Pim Ronhaar were Van der Poel’s closest rivals, with the Baloise Trek Lions riders finishing between 12 and 30 seconds back. That gap could have been much higher had Van der Poel not backed off towards the end.
“It is never easy to win. It is always one hour full gas in cyclocross, so it’s not easy,” he insisted.
There was drama from the very start with a crash about 15 riders back occurring when Pidcock and Cam Mason (Cyclocross Reds) tangled and triggered a pileup.
The impact snapped Pidcock’s right brake lever and rear mech, ending his chances of victory after just a few seconds of effort, and dashing fans’ hopes of a battle between the so-called ‘Big Three.’
Eyes turned to Van der Poel and Van Aert, seventh and ninth behind Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) at the end of lap one, but Van Aert then slid out on a corner early on lap two.
While the crash wasn’t a big one he dropped his chain and lost valuable time trying to put it back on again, with his subsequent bike change in the pits seeing him slip to over half a minute back.
In contrast, Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Van der Poel was avoiding the sort of problems which afflicted his two big rivals and moved into the lead soon after the start of lap three of eight.
“I was on the wheel but I kept making too many mistakes because I didn’t see the good lines,” he later explained. “So I went to the front to do my own pace.”
Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) was closest to him when he accelerated and tried to go with him. “I thought I could follow but his technique is really good,” he said. “Then when he puts the pressure on on the straights, it is just so difficult to follow him.”
Once clear Van der Poel easily built his advantage, with Pim Ronhaar joining teammate Van der Haar in pursuit but already being 14 seconds behind at the end of lap three. They were 35 seconds back with two laps to do despite the reinforcement of teammate Joris Nieuwenhuis.
Further back, Van Aert was still moving through the field. He had suffered a further setback in needing a second bike change but while the race victory was beyond him, he still entertained the crowds with strong riding behind.
Van der Poel was having a different sort of interaction with the spectators, spitting on some on the final lap who he later said had been booing him during the event.
That will lead to some post-race controversy but whatever about the booing and his response, nobody could question the dominance of his win.
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