Van der Poel beats Belgian duo on the line

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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

World Cup standings