Toon Aerts ends Mathieu van der Poel's winning streak at Hotondcross

Toon Aerts (Telenet-Baloise Lions) won the DVV Verzekeringen trofee Hotondcross in Ronse on Saturday. The Belgian champion soloed to the finish 1:30 ahead of runner-up Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and 2:14 ahead of third placed Mathieu Van Der Poel (Corendon - Circus).

Aerts denied Van der Poel his 36th consecutive cyclo-cross victory. Van der Poel's winning streak began at the Koppenbergcross in 2018, according to a report in Wielerflits. 

Van der Poel has won nine races in this season, so far, that begun in November with victories at Telenet Superprestige Ruddervoorde, UEC Cyclo-cross European Championships, Jaarmarktcross, Tabor World Cup, DVV Verzekeringen trofee Flandriencross, Ambiancecross, Koksijde World Cup, and DVV Verzekeringen trofee Kortrijk. He also won Lampiris Zilvermeercross in December.

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The world champion had just returned to cyclo-cross racing in Ronse after spending a week training in Spain.

The Hotondcross race started with the formation of a lead group of five that included Aerts, Iserbyt, van der Poel, Marcel Meisen (Corendon - Circus) and Corné van Kessel (Telenet Baloise Lions), with Tim Merlier (Creafin-Fristads) trailing the leaders.

Aerts distanced himself from the front group in the opening laps. He built a lead of 30 seconds over chasers van der Poel and Iserbyt by the start of the fifth lap. 

Showing top form and technical skill through the mud, Aerts' lead grew to over a minute as he entered the final lap. 

Iserbyt managed to catch and pass van der Poel to finish in second place, while the world champion appeared to struggle to finish in third at over two minutes back. 

Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) finished four seconds behind Van der Poel in fourth place.

Iserbyt remains in the lead of the DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series at 1:45 ahead of Aerts. Van der Poel is currently in first place in the UCI rankings.