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In his extremely anticipated return to cyclocross, Mathieu van der Poel wasted no time asserting his dominance, delivering a commanding efficiency on the Zonhoven World Cup on Sunday. The World Champion seized the lead early on the primary lap, showcasing his mastery of the moist, sandy course, whereas the remainder of the sector battled for the remaining podium locations.
Van der Poel moved his strategy to second place earlier than the sandy drop the place he descended like a stone straight down overtaking Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP) who had taken the entrance firstly. This was the final time that Aerts or any of the opposite riders would see Van der Poel all the way in which to the ending line and onto the stage.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider had ample time to have a good time his victory, securing a document fifth win at Zonhoven and crossing the road 1:30 forward of his nearest competitor.
European champion Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) pulled away from the chase group on the third lap holding a late race chase to take second place forward of Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon), who claimed third.
“The most effective [race] and possibly the one I did not anticipate, so it is very nice,” Van der Poel stated of his victory on his first cyclocross race of the season.
The Dutch rider repeated that he didn’t anticipate the race to unfold because it did provided that he had modified his preparation for his shortened cyclocross racing schedule.
“I did a unique strategy to my first race, a bit much less, interval and extra like endurance rides to try to get via this busy interval, a bit brisker than I did final 12 months, however yeah, I felt actually good from the start really.”
“Additionally the approach was, was actually good as we speak, so I am blissful.”
The way it unfolded
After a morning storm had delayed the sooner races, the 66-rider area lined up for the much-anticipated return of Van der Poel. Aerts was the quickest off the grid, taking the holeshot and putting himself on the entrance with Van der Poel choosing his means up earlier than the primary time down the steep sandy drop. Van der Poel confirmed his mastery on the descent, the place the sand was barely packed down on account of rain.
By the tip of the primary lap, Van der Poel had established a 21-second lead, a lead that may proceed to develop each lap. The struggle via for podium spots and prime 10 continued via the race because the Dutch star confirmed a masterclass of driving.
A chase group of seven riders, together with Pim Ronhaar, Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), Aerts, Wyseure, Nys, Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendan) and Mees Hendrikx (Heizomat Radteam) fashioned by the second lap. Paying the value for his crashes yesterday on the Hulst World Cup, World Cup chief Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) fell behind and needed to chase for the rest of the eight-lap race.
Nys, with the help of his teammate Ronhaar, was in a position to separate himself from the group earlier than the midway mark and would proceed on solo til the tip, although he needed to maintain off a late surge.
Vanthourenhout briefly joined the chase group which splintered underneath strain. By the sixth lap, Van der Haar and Wyseure have been along with Iserbyt and Aerts chasing not far behind.
Aerts and Syweure took benefit of errors on the penultimate lap, first by Iserbyt who selected a unique line, hit the boundaries, and misplaced time, after which by Van der Haar who needed to unclip to drag barely away and get nearer to Nys.
By the ultimate lap, Wyseure got here round Aerts to take third place, his finest World Cup end result.
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