Wout van Aert snatches Superprestige Heusden-Zolder win ahead of Mathiew van der Poel in thrilling finish

Published 27/12/2022 at 16:05 GMT

Belgian rider Wout van Aert snatched victory from the Netherlands Mathieu van der Poel in a dramatic final lap that saw Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock finish fourth. Van Aert and Van der Poel battled for victory in the closing stages, and with the latter leading, the Belgian took his chance and sprinted to victory. Lars Van Der Haar finished third for the final podium spot and series lead.

Van Aert wins, Van der Poel comes second in a thrilling finish in Heusden-Zolder

Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel in a thrilling final lap during the fifth round of Superprestige Heusden-Zolder in east Belgium.

Van der Poel led Van Aert as the pair marked each other on the ninth lap, with the former producing a burst of speed to gear up for a long muddy descent before taking on a flight of stairs as he edged towards victory.

But an error from the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider as he slipped off the bike in the woods set up a mighty sprint race, which Van Aert took full advantage of to power home.

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“First I tried to make the difference in the final technical section,” Van der Poel explained after the race. “I tried to make it a long sprint but that didn't succeed.

“Then we went to the sprint. Unfortunately, I clipped out of my pedal. I'm disappointed that I couldn't ride my sprint.”

Baloise Trek Lions’s Van der Haar held off Great British World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who could only manage fourth spot, as the podium gave Van der Haar enough points to take the lead in the Superprestige series.

Van der Haar led the series alongside Laurens Sweeck ahead of Tuesday’s race, but the Dutchman, who ultimately took a solo lead, was helped by Sweeck finishing eighth.

Michael Vanthourenhout finished fifth, Joris Nieuwenhuis and Quinten Hermans managed sixth and seventh place respectively, with Sweeck, Kevin Kuhn, and Niels Vandeputte wrapping up the top ten.

Van Aert wins from Van der Poel and Pidcock to complete 'dream podium' at Mol cyclo-cross

The riders return to action in the Superprestige on Wednesday evening as they take on the unique Diegem course, available from 19:35 GMT on Eurosport 2.

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