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Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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David van der Poel at the Zonhoven finish (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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David van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) finished a strong fourth (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the Zonhoven SuperPrestige race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel again takes centre stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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David van der Poel finishing fourth at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Lars van der Haar on the Zonhoven podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert on the Zonhoven podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Winner Mathieu van der Poel flanked by runner-up Wout Van Aert and third-placed Lars van der Haar at Superprestige Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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The men's podium at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel on the Zonhoven podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel celebrates a Superprestige win at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel wins the Zonhoven Superprestige. (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel rolls down the Zonhoven finishing straight to take the win. (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert finishing second at Superprestige Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel racing at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel en route to a Superprestige win at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert at the Superprestige Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Laurens Sweeck trudging through the Zonhoven sand (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel carrying the bike at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Toon Aerts at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel on foot in the Zonhoven sand (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Quinten Hermans at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Lars Van der Haar racing at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Fans packed the house at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Lars van der Haar at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Michael Vanthourenhout at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel on his way to a Zonhoven victory (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Wout Van Aert in the Zonhoven sand (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Riders navigating the sand at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Quinten Hermans riding to sixth at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Kevin Pauwels at Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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The Telenet Fidea lion enjoying some time on the podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Mathieu van der Poel celebrates his win in Zonhoven (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the second round of the Superprestige, conquering the famous sandpit at Zonhoven and leaving his rivals struggling. Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) finished 21 second back, with third place going to Lars van der Haar (Telenet-Fidea) at 35 seconds.

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It is van der Poel’s second victory at the race in two years, and his second win in two days after Saturday’s Poldercross. The Dutchman currently seems unbeatable, leaving his many Belgian rivals frustrated and searching for answers.

An uncharacteristically slow start for van der Poel saw him back in sixth place on the opening lap as Laurens Sweeck (Era-Circus) pushed the pace from the off and lead down the first, hectic drop-off into the sandpit. Van Aert sensed the early opportunity and soon took Sweeck and Quinten Hermans (Telenet-Fidea) with him to open up a ten second gap on van der Poel at the end of the first lap.

The lead wouldn’t last though, and any thought that van der Poel might struggle was swiftly dismissed as the Dutchman made the catch on lap three. Nevertheless, it looked as though the huge crowds that had turned out in the warm weather would be treated to a big battle for supremacy.

Van der Poel had other ideas, attacking the uphill-downhill sandpit section on lap four. The gap was immediate and decisive; by the end of the lap he was 20 seconds up on Van Aert and on his way to victory.

It wasn’t a flawless race for the Dutch champion as a crash on a tight corner midway through the hour slowed his progress for a handful of seconds. He almost crashed on a descent into the sandpit too, using his bike skills to stay upright and avoid any embarrassment infront of the huge crowd.

Behind Van Aert also had problems. He was kept busy dealing with pressure from van der Haar and, surprisingly, David van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon).

The final quarter of an hour saw that fight become a two-man battle as David van der Poel fell back. Van der Haar stuck around - clearly on good form having somehow beaten Mathieu last weekend. On the pe-nultimate lap he made his move, passing Van Aert in the thick sand but the World Champion struck back in the closing stages to claim second place.

Out front, van der Poel was untouchable, enjoying the applause of the crowd and even pulling a trick jump on the final lap.

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon	1:07:07
2	Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan - Charles	0:00:22
3	Lars van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions	0:00:36
4	David van der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon	0:01:16
5	Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus	0:01:44
6	Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions	0:01:55
7	Michael Boroš (Cze) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice	0:02:17
8	Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions	0:02:41
9	Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice
10	Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus	0:02:43
11	Tom Meeusen (Bel) Beobank-Corendon	0:03:20
12	Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games	0:03:52
13	Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan - Charles	0:04:14
14	Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Steylaerts - Betfirst	0:04:41
15	Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games	0:04:46
16	Rob Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice	0:05:11
17	Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Steylaerts - Betfirst
18	Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
19	Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan - Charles
20	Vincent Baestaens (Bel)
21	Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games
22	Gioele Bertolini (Ita)
23	Sander Elen (Bel)
24	Martin Eriksson (Swe)
25	Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned)
26	Jens Vandekinderen (Bel)
27	David Eriksson (Swe)
28	Dries Pauwels (Bel)
29	Niels Koyen (Bel)
30	Yelle Leaerts (Bel)
31	Grzegorz Grabarek (Pol)
32	Andrew Juiliano (USA)
DNF	Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games
DNF	Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned)
DNF	Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games
DNF	Yu Takenouchi (Jpn)
DNF	Joeri Adams (Bel)
DNF	Sergio Ivan Fernandez Rodriguez (Spa)
DNF	Henrik Jansson (Swe)
DSQ	Twan Van Den Brand (Ned)

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Daniel Ostanek

Daniel Ostanek has been a staff writer at Cyclingnews since August 2019, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later part-time production editor. Before Cyclingnews, he was published in numerous publications around the cycling world, including Procycling, CyclingWeekly, CyclingTips, Cyclist, and Rouleur, among others. As well as reporting and writing news and features, Daniel runs the 'How to watch' content throughout the season.

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, and has interviewed a number of the sport's biggest stars, including Egan Bernal, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, and Anna van der Breggen. Daniel rides a 2002 Landbouwkrediet Colnago C40 and his favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Vuelta a España.