Cyclocross, Van Der Poel's poker. Van Aert was only fourth

Rome, 27 December 2024 - After the hat trick, there is a poker, despite the return to the competition of Wout van aert: after the victories at Zonhoven, Mol e givere, Mathieu van der Poel it is also imposed on Loenhout, signing the seasonal en plein.  

The race and comments from Van Der Poel and Van Aert

  The Dutchman led the race in theExact Cross from start to finish, going to win in front of the home idols Thibau Nys e Lauren's Sweeck respectively for 14" e 15": staying at home Belgium, only fourth Van Aert, detached from 36" and victim of two falls, just so as not to lose the 'healthy habits' that unite his life in cyclocross with that on the road. 197th duel between the two rivals ends like this, without the head to head that many would have wanted but which is perhaps premature today, considering that the rider of the Visma-Lease a Bike was in fact stopped by September 3th, day of the fall of the 2024 lap. The winner's comment was not long in coming, however. Van der Poel. "The race was difficult, because here it is complicated to be faster than the others without making mistakes. Also, for the first time this year I had cold hands and so far I can say that it was the hardest race for me this season, also considering yesterday's efforts at givere and that at the beginning I broke the saddle. I changed bike - continue Van der Poel - and I immediately had the return of Sweeck, who went very strong. I was good at not letting him go all the way back and finding my rhythm, and at that point it was clearly a done deal for me." Van Aert instead, not even the consolation of the podium arrived and, apparently, not only due to my own shortcomings. "I wanted to start well but it took me a while to get into the pedal. I thought I was starting badly, but then I found a space on the left and somewhat surprisingly I found myself at the head of the group. In the first lap I felt good, but when Mathieu he was accelerating and I understood that I couldn't keep up with him because I couldn't be as good technically. I tried to get closer and, fortunately, I found the help of NYS, which brought me back to Sweeck". Then the crash on the last lap made it again Van Aert the 'Donald Duck' of cycling. "It wasn't the fault of Thibau, who made a nice move to overtake me. I was on the outside of the curve and there was a fan leaning out. Unfortunately I came into contact with him, meaning I could no longer fight for the podium." However, not everything is to be thrown away, especially after such a long absence from racing. "I'm happy with the feeling: it was a positive day. I didn't expect to race like this already. Now I'll have a good week of training before the races. Gullegem e Dendermonde, which will be very difficult."

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