Van der Poel back on top in Danish World Cup

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.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon1:02:58
2Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan - Charles0:00:08
3Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:00:09
4Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions0:00:47
5Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan - Charles0:01:21
6Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions0:01:28
7Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus0:01:48
8Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:01:52
9Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:02:05
10Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:02:06
11Gioele Bertolini (Ita) Team Nob Selle Italia0:02:09
12Vincent Baestaens (Bel)0:02:17
13Tom Meeusen (Bel) Beobank-Corendon0:02:20
14Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Steylaerts - Betfirst0:02:36
15Michael Boros (Cze) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice0:02:45
16Marcel Meisen (Ger) Steylaerts - Betfirst0:02:57
17Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice0:03:01
18Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:03:05
19Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:03:16
20Daan Soete (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:03:19
21Matthieu Boulo (Fra)0:03:23
22Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:03:26
23Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Ginestar - Delikia0:03:28
24Simon Zahner (Swi)0:03:31
25Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Sram Mtb Racing Team0:03:44
26Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin0:03:54
27Fabien Canal (Fra) Armee De Terre0:04:03
28Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Destil - Jo Piels Cycling Team0:04:07
29Sascha Weber (Ger)0:04:22
30Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin0:04:28
31Stephen Hyde (USA)0:04:38
32Steve Chainel (Fra) Team Chazal Canyon0:04:49
33Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus0:04:57
34Severin Sagesser (Swi)0:05:00
35Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned)0:05:11
36Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa)0:05:15
37Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan - Charles0:05:27
38Alois Falenta (Fra)0:05:41
39Gosse Van Der Meer (Ned) Tarteletto - Isorex0:05:48
40Jeremy Durrin (USA)0:06:29
41Yorben Van Tichelt (Bel) Era-CircusRow 40 - Cell 2
42Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa) Ginestar - DelikiaRow 41 - Cell 2
43Nicolas Samparisi (Ita) D'amico UtensilnordRow 42 - Cell 2
44Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den) Cst Sandd American Eagle Mtb Racing TeamRow 43 - Cell 2
45Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Fredrik Haraldseth (Nor) Swix Hard RocxRow 46 - Cell 2
48Karol Michalski (Pol)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Martin Eriksson (Swe)Row 48 - Cell 2
50Niels Bech Rasmussen (Den)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Tommy Moberg Nielsen (Den)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Andrew Juiliano (USA)Row 51 - Cell 2
53Joachim Parbo (Den)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Morten Laustsen (Den)Row 53 - Cell 2
55Henrik Lunder Aalrust (Nor)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Yu Takenouchi (Jpn)Row 55 - Cell 2
57David Eriksson (Swe)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Jacob Lindsel (Den)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Ingvar Omarsson ISLRow 58 - Cell 2
60Henrik Jansson (Swe)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Nikolaj Ruud Ostergaard (Den)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-CorendonRow 61 - Cell 2

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