Van der Poel back on top in Danish World Cup

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European champion Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) continues his World Cup winning streak with a dominating win on the 2019 UCI Cyclo-cross World championships course in Bogense, Denmark. It was the first-ever Danish World Cup round.

On a sunny but cold and windy Sunday afternoon, Van der Poel took yet another commanding victory. The Dutch ace finished well ahead of his Belgian rivals, world champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) and Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions). He had time to high-five with the fans at the finish line, while the sun was setting in Bogense.

It was hard to say what bothered him the most, the sun, his knee or his rivals. "Straight from the start, the sun was really low. In some corners, it was hard to judge where the lines were on the ground. Early on, I needed a bit of time to get into my rhythm. It took a while to get a grip on the course because it had changed a bit compared to the circumstances during the pre-race training ride," Van der Poel said. Despite needing stitches after a rough ride in Gavere last weekend, Van der Poel didn't seem to be bothered by his injury.

"It's very nice. It wasn't a perfect week but during the two last days I realized that I wouldn't be bothered too much from my knee," Van der Poel said in the post-race flash interview. The day before the race, Van der Poel hurt his knee again. "Yesterday I crashed stupidly just below my knee. I wasn't bothered by it."

Van der Poel holds on to the maximum of 320 points in the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup and extends his lead up to 100 points over Van Aert. Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions) moves into third place overall after finishing fourth in Bogense.

The top favourites took a smooth start while US champion Stephen Hyde (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) had an early mechanical that slung him into dead last position. In front, Mathieu van der Poel quickly took over the lead from Van der Haar and tested the legs of his rivals. He took a few metres' lead but misjudged a descent which allowed Van Aert, Aerts and Van der Haar to bridge back up by the end of the opening lap.

At the end of the second lap, Van der Poel fired again. This time, only former European champion Aerts was able to keep up. The leading duo cooperated well for two laps. They shared the work while battling the strong wind gusts along the coastline. Behind them, Van Aert shook off Van der Haar. The latter lost time at nearly every passage of the barriers. Nevertheless, the Dutch rider managed to hold on to fourth place at the finish.

During the fifth of nine laps, the race was decided. Aerts decided to get a clean bike and lost a few metres on Van der Poel, and never saw the Dutchman again.

"I planned to switch bikes every two laps. That was the plan but I probably shouldn't have done it," Aerts said. "He had a few metres and that made a huge difference. I was alone in the wind and couldn't close the gap back down."

After the race, Van der Poel claimed that he was unaware of Aerts entering the pit. He was up for a solo ride of nearly five laps. The 22-year-old World Cup leader impressed mostly on a steep run-up. Each lap, he hopped off his bike a bit higher and in the closing laps, he managed to ride up the whole climb. Van der Poel freewheeled in the final minutes of the race and won his fourth out of four World Cup rounds.

Behind Van der Poel, Belgian riders Aerts and Van Aert battled for second place. "I tried to keep the pace up to hold on to second place but it didn't work out," Aerts said. He kept the world champion at ten seconds for about two laps, but suddenly, Aerts lost his advantage due to a flat tyre.

"During the second half of the race I was closing in on Toon," Van Aert said. "When I bridged up with him I noticed that he had punctured. I was headed for second place but punctured too and we came back together. During the final lap, I punctured again."

Aerts tried to profit from the world champion's late flat. "I noticed that he punctured late in the race. I collected a few metres but it wasn't enough. I was dead empty," Aerts said.

Van Aert managed to get back to him before reaching the finishing straight at the small harbour of Bogense. Aerts had no sprint left in his legs and Van Aert beat him for second place on the line. Nevertheless, Aerts was very pleased to battle with the two best riders of the pack and grab his first World Cup podium result.

Van Aert was content too. "I didn't have much luck. Then again, I think I finished in the position that I deserved. Toon and I were each other's match but Mathieu was certainly better," Van Aert said in the post-race flash interview. "I felt pretty good early on but Mathieu was clearly stronger. Toon managed to keep up a bit longer than myself. For now, it's clear we can't beat Mathieu."

At a long distance from the top three, Van der Haar was fourth at 47 seconds. Tim Merlier (Crelan-Charles) won the battle for fifth place at 1:21. He held off ever-consistent Corné van Kessel (Telenet Fidea Lions). Belgian riders Laurens Sweeck, Quinten Hermans, Michael Vanthourenhout and Kevin Pauwels closed out the top 10 at two minutes from winner Mathieu van der Poel.

Next week, the fifth round of the World Cup is held in Zeven, Germany.

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