Van der Poel wins Scheldecross

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the DVV verzekeringen trofee - Scheldecross. The Dutchman took the win after a close match with Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles), who was forced to settle for second place. Laurens Sweeck (Era-Circus) was third.

With Van der Poel held up by a slower start, Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions) and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux - Napoleon Games) led the opening laps. But it wasn't long before both Van der Poel and Van Aert were dominating the front of the race.

Van der Poel attacked several times but unlike in previous races this year, he was not able to shake Van Aert so easily.

Van Aert used his strength on the climbs to lead the race and the pair raced into the final lap together. It looked like it might come down to a sprint for the win, but Van der Poel put distance on Van Aert in the final section through the sand and then accelerated to take the win by three seconds. 

"Both Wout and I wanted to be in the lead when we entered the strip of sand in the final lap, and we were all together. Whoever touched the brakes first lost the race," Van der Poel said.

Van der Poel continues to lead the overall classification of the DVV verzekeringen trofee.

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