Mathieu Van der Poel won the second round of the World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium. The Dutchman chased Daan Soete (Belgium) and Wout Van Aert (Belgium) for most of the race but thanks to a tremendous last-lap effort he went past the Belgian duo. With his second World Cup win, Van der Poel strengthens his overall lead.
“I had to dig really deep to win this one. I had a really bad start but I felt strong and kept trying,” Van der Poel said. Going into the last lap, Van der Poel still trailed the Belgians by 12 seconds and it seemed that the race was over. “I wasn’t getting any closer anymore. I didn’t go too well through the sand but I managed to ride up a climb where they [Soet and Van Aert] had to run,” Van der Poel explained. “Then they tried to block me but I managed to get around them.” Clearly the Belgians weren’t planning to offer Van der Poel the win on a plate.
The Belgian plan didn’t work out and at the finish line the Belgian duo realized it was a missed opportunity to beat the strong Dutchman. “We worked together to hold him off as we realized he’s stronger,” Soete said. On the final sand section Soete and Van Aert were eventually gapped. “He runs too fast and I was unable to close the gap. It’s not a shame to be beaten by him,” Soete said. Compatriot Van Aert added that Van der Poel didn’t make the difference in the sand. “We were riding well in the sand but we lost a lot on the sections in between,” he said.
Just like the winner, Silvio Herklotz (Germany) bounced back from a lost position as well. Herklotz got away in 35th position but eventually fought back to claim fourth place at almost one minute from Van der Poel. Yorben Van Tichelt (Belgium) was fifth ahead of the duo Romain Seigle (France) and Quentin Jauregui (France). Further back, Andrew Dillman (USA) finished in a decent 17th place on the world championships course of Koksijde.
Van der Poel leads the World Cup with 120 points. Soete (85 points) overtakes Jauregui (78 points) in second place while Van Aert (73 points) is fourth.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Netherlands | 0:37:47 |
| 2 | Daan Soete (Bel) Belgium | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) Belgium | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 4 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Germany | 0:00:59 |
| 5 | Yorben Van Tichelt (Bel) Belgium | 0:01:04 |
| 6 | Romain Seigle (Fra) France | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Quentin Jauregui (Fra) France | 0:01:49 |
| 8 | Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Belgium | 0:01:55 |
| 9 | Matthias Van De Velde (Bel) Belgium | 0:01:58 |
| 10 | Quinten Hermans (Bel) Belgium | 0:02:15 |
| 11 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) France | 0:02:33 |
| 12 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Switzerland | 0:02:37 |
| 13 | Koen Weijers (Ned) Netherlands | 0:02:48 |
| 14 | Pjotr Van Beek (Ned) Netherlands | 0:02:55 |
| 15 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) France | 0:02:59 |
| 16 | Nadir Colledani (Ita) Italy | 0:03:02 |
| 17 | Andrew Dillman (USA) United States | 0:03:15 |
| 18 | Dominic Zumstein (Swi) Switzerland | 0:03:20 |
| 19 | Stan Wijkel (Ned) Netherlands | 0:03:21 |
| 20 | Ben Boets (Bel) Belgium-B | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
| 21 | Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Belgium-B | 0:03:26 |
| 22 | Erik Kramer (Ned) Netherlands | 0:03:33 |
| 23 | Berne Vankeirsbilck (Bel) Belgium-B | 0:03:34 |
| 24 | Ariesen Tim (Ned) Netherlands | 0:03:46 |
| 25 | Marco König (Ger) Germany | 0:03:56 |
| 26 | Gioele Bertolini (Ita) Italy | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
| 27 | Din Van Den Driessche (Bel) Belgium-B | 0:04:04 |
| 28 | Hugo Robinson (GBr) Great Britain | 0:04:15 |
| 29 | Karel Pokorny (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:04:19 |
| 30 | Dominic Grab (Swi) Switzerland | 0:04:20 |
| 31 | Jelto Veroft (Bel) Belgium-B | 0:04:35 |
| 32 | Dylan Kowalski (Fra) France | 0:04:40 |
| 33 | Johannes Siemermann (Ger) Germany | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| 34 | Michal Paluta (Pol) Poland | 0:04:42 |
| 35 | Bryan Van Rooyen (Ned) Netherlands | 0:04:54 |
| 36 | Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa) Spain | 0:04:59 |
| 37 | Max Lindenau (Ger) Germany | 0:05:04 |
| 38 | Felix Drumm (Ger) Germany | 0:05:10 |
| 39 | Joseph Moses (GBr) Great Britain | 0:05:11 |
| 40 | Anthony Chamerat Dumont (Fra) France | 0:05:27 |
| 41 | Steffen Müller (Ger) Germany | 0:05:29 |
| 42 | Alexander Welburn (GBr) Great Britain | 0:05:40 |
| 43 | Braam Merlier (Bel) Belgium-B | 0:05:45 |
| 44 | Joe Kirkham (GBr) Great Britain | 0:05:47 |
| 45 | Jiri Rehak (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:05:53 |
| 46 | Piotr Konwa (Pol) Poland | 0:06:00 |
| 47 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Italy | 0:06:07 |
| 48 | Adam Martin (GBr) Great Britain | 0:06:16 |
| 49 | Tomas Novacek (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:06:20 |
| 50 | Lukas Spengler (Swi) Switzerland | 0:06:27 |
| 51 | Simon Hamann-Larsen (Den) Denmark | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
| 52 | Karel Svrcina (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:06:41 |
| 53 | Dennis Wahlqvist (Swe) Sweden | 0:07:03 |
| 54 | Daniel Lukes (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:07:39 |
| 55 | Simon Vozar (Svk) Slovakia | - 1 lap |
| 56 | Ondrej Glajza (Svk) Slovakia | - 1 lap |
| 57 | Sven Fritsch (Lux) Luxembourg | - 1 lap |
| 58 | Mateusz Grabis (Pol) Poland | - 1 lap |
| 59 | Francesco Pedante (Ita) Italy | - 1 lap |
| 60 | Zygimantas Baikstys (Ltu) Lithuania | - 1 lap |
| 61 | Luis Junquera San Millan (Spa) Spain | - 1 lap |
| 62 | Miroslaw Plotka (Pol) Poland | - 1 lap |
| 63 | David Klein (Lux) Luxembourg | - 2 laps |
| 64 | Lubos Malovec (Svk) Slovakia | - 2 laps |
| 65 | Magnus Skjoth (Den) Denmark | - 2 laps |
| DNF | Rick Theis (Lux) Luxembourg | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Peio Olaberria (Spa) Spain | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Simon Mateju (Cze) Czech Republic | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
World Cup standings
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Netherlands | 120 | pts |
| 2 | Daan Soete (Bel) Belgium | 85 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Quentin Jauregui (Fra) France | 78 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) Belgium | 73 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Belgium | 71 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Romain Seigle (Fra) France | 70 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Yorben Van Tichelt (Bel) Belgium | 51 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Quinten Hermans (Bel) Belgium | 44 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Matthias Van De Velde (Bel) Belgium | 41 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Pjotr Van Beek (Ned) Netherlands | 41 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Germany | 40 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Gioele Bertolini (Ita) Italy | 35 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Marco König (Ger) Germany | 32 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Koen Weijers (Ned) Netherlands | 32 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Nadir Colledani (Ita) Italy | 30 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) France | 27 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Ariesen Tim (Ned) Netherlands | 26 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Hugo Robinson (GBr) GreatBritain | 23 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Switzerland | 19 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Jan Brezna (Cze) Czech Republic | 18 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) France | 16 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Andrew Dillman (USA) United States | 14 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Dominic Zumstein (Swi) Switzerland | 13 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Simon Mateju (Cze) Czech Republic | 13 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Stan Wijkel (Ned) Netherlands | 12 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| 26 | Stefano Valdrighi (Ita) Italy | 12 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
| 27 | Ben Boets (Bel) Belgium | 11 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
| 28 | Yannick Gruner (Ger) Germany | 11 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
| 29 | Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Belgium | 10 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
| 30 | Daniel Lukes (Cze) Czech Republic | 10 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
| 31 | Karel Pokorny (Cze) Czech Republic | 10 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
| 32 | Erik Kramer (Ned) Netherlands | 9 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
| 33 | Tomas Novacek (Cze) Czech Republic | 9 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
| 34 | Berne Vankeirsbilck (Bel) Belgium | 8 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
| 35 | Michal Paluta (Pol) Poland | 6 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
| 36 | Riccardo Redaelli (Ita) Italy | 5 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
| 37 | Din Van Den Driessche (Bel) Belgium | 4 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
| 38 | Stefano Debellis (Ita) Italy | 4 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
| 39 | Steffen Müller (Ger) Germany | 3 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
| 40 | Francesco Pedante (Ita) Italy | 2 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
| 41 | Dominic Grab (Swi) Switzerland | 1 | Row 40 - Cell 3 |
| 42 | Lubos Malovec (Svk) Slovakia | 1 | Row 41 - Cell 3 |
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