Van Der Poel conquers the Zonhoven sandpit
Van Aert and van der Haar complete the Superprestige podium
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.
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 | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
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 | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan - Charles | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Gioele Bertolini (Ita) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Sander Elen (Bel) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Martin Eriksson (Swe) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | David Eriksson (Swe) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Dries Pauwels (Bel) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Niels Koyen (Bel) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Yelle Leaerts (Bel) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Grzegorz Grabarek (Pol) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Andrew Juiliano (USA) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Joeri Adams (Bel) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sergio Ivan Fernandez Rodriguez (Spa) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Henrik Jansson (Swe) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
DSQ | Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.
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