Cyclo-cross World Cup: Mathieu van der Poel recovers from early slip to dominate in Antwerp

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) recovered from an early mishap to dominate the Antwerp round of the Cyclo-cross World Cup on Saturday.

The world champion slipped out of his pedal on the start line and had to fight his way back from 30th place, but moved to the front of the race on the third lap and immediately blasted away, never to be seen again.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) finished runner-up after a curious race in which he appeared content to watch Van der Poel sail clear before launching a comeback charge late in the day. He was well quicker than Van der Poel through the final two laps but by that point the damage had been done and he had to settle for a second runner-up finish in as many days.

Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen Bingoal) claimed the final spot on the podium, retaining the overall World Cup series lead in the process.

“I missed my start, I clipped out of my pedal, then got caught upon in the chaos, so I had to take my time to get to the front, but I felt the legs were good so I didn’t panic,” Van der Poel said.

“I noticed they were struggling with the sand sections so I tried to get through there as smooth as possible, and I immediately had a gap. I was hoping behind they’d look at each other because it was a fast race with a lot of wind, but I managed to keep my pace and felt good until the end.”

Van der Poel in the sand

The race in Antwerp was highly-anticipated as the first meeting of the so-called ‘Big Three’, but Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), could only manage 8th place, himself a victim of an early mishap in the form of a crash.

In fact, the three of them didn’t see too much of each other. Van der Poel spent the first couple of laps working his way back through the field, with Van Aert taking a tumble in the sand and then allowing Van der Poel to pass when he tripped on a stair.

The world champion then moved to the front of the race on the third of the eight laps and launched what would turn out to be the winning move. He quickly opened a staggering lead of 50 seconds, as Van Aert sat back in a large chase group, and although the Belgian himself went ballistic through the final laps, by then it was too little too late.

"I took the race a bit more conservative, trying to follow the wheels. That was necessary because I don’t have the form yet to go full gas the whole hour," Van Aert said. "I still could accelerate in the last two laps, and reached the best possible result."

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Van Aert crosses the line for second place

A frantic start

The riders covered eight laps of an Antwerp course that featured sand on the banks of the River Scheldt, along with a number of inland twists and turns, plus a set of stairs and a set of barriers.

There had been a great deal of anticipation surrounding the first meeting of the ‘Big Three’, but two of them found themselves on the back foot from the opening metres. Van der Poel slipped slipped a pedal on his second stroke and slipped from the second row to the back end of the field. The on the second corner, Pidcock went tumbling after a clash of shoulders.

Both riders found themselves stuck far behind a heavy line of traffic, with Pidcock in 20th and Van der Poel a further 10 places back. Van Aert, meanwhile, was sitting pretty in 7th as Iserbyt and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Baloise Trek Lions) made the early running.

By the end of the opening lap, the field was largely still together but Pidcock and Van der Poel had both moved up into the top 15.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Tom Pidcock leading what turned into a second chase group

Van der Poel’s comeback gathered pace on lap two, as he overtook Pidcock to get back into the top 10. He then even went past Van Aert, who stumbled on a stair – a second error after tumbling into the sand at the end of the opener.

Van der Poel was strong again through that sand to end the second lap in second place, but he then went ballistic on lap three. A couple of stutters among the leaders allowed him through to the front and he then launched a vicious acceleration to haul his way clear. The move was emphatic; the race had been grouped from the start but by the end of the lap Van der Poel had opened a 16-second solo lead over the rest of the field.

The direction of the race became clear on lap four as Van der Poel busted his lead open to a whopping 42 seconds over an eight-man group that contained Van Aert, with Pidcock lagging a few second behind. The pattern remained the same on lap five, as the gap grew to 50 seconds.

The races opens up and Van Aert launches his comeback

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Van Aert, with Iserbyt behind, makes his charge late in the race

Lap six was where the race began to shift and open up. The chasing group became stretched, and Van der Poel ceased to extend his lead. Iserbyt led the charge as it came down to 46 seconds by the end of the lap, with Van Aert a couple of seconds back and Nieuwenhuis just behind him.

Van Aert took over from Iserbyt on the penultimate lap, and the gap continued to fall, down to 38 seconds, with Nieuwenhuis falling away from that duo.

The charge continued on the final lap, and Iserbyt was unable to live with Van Aert’s pace. Up front, Van der Poel made no mistakes, even if he was seeing it through as opposed to sustaining his blistering pace from earlier in the race. In contrast, Van Aert was moving faster than ever, but to no avail. By the finish line he’d cut the gap to less than 28 seconds, which was impressive in itself but counted for nothing.

In the overall World Cup standings, Iserbyt is still out in front on 255 points ahead of the Baloise Trek Lions dup of Pim Ronhaar (198) and Lars van der Haar (191).