Mathieu van der Poel dominates in Essen

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) continued to dominate the cyclo-cross season, winning the muddy Ethias Cross race in northern Belgium with a controlled ride in the mud.

The world champion rode a paced race for much of the nine flat laps and then opened the gas in the final 15 minutes after a tactical bike change. He then gradually distanced Quinten Hermans (Tormans) and never looked back, going on to win by 10 seconds after easing up during the final lap. It was his third victory of the season. 

Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing) was again close to Van der Poel’s level but a spill and a suspected puncture cost him vital seconds. He fought with Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) in the final laps but managed to hang on to third place at 18 seconds. 

Van der Poel revealed that a mid-race tyre pressure change was vital. He reportedly eased his pressure by a tenth of a bar to 1.3. 

"Early on I made a lot of mistakes. My tires were a bit too hard. When I changed bikes it went a lot smoother," he explained post-race.

"I tried to win as comfortably as possible, because I have a busy program ahead of me. I liked the course here because I could use my bike skills. After the tough crosses in Gavere and Namur, that was welcome."