Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) strong-armed the mud and the field to win the Cyclocross World Cup in Dendermonde with a solo effort on Sunday.
Van Aert, who now has a trio of wins in Dendermonde, minced his way through heavy mud and a slow start in the opening two laps to ride away for the second victory of his abbreviated 'cross season.
Emile Verstrynge (Crelan-Corendon) held on for second place, 1:10 back, with his teammate Joran Wyseure in third.
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A seismic battle for World Cup points ensued well behind Van Aert between series leader Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines) and second-placed Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP), separated by 25 points. Aerts was able to distance the series leader late in the race and finished fourth overall, while Vanthourenhout rode across the line in solo fifth place.
Van Aert went straight to the broadcast area for a post-race interview, not stopping to wipe the mud from his face. Did he have fun on the course today? He simply answered, "A lot".
"Cyclocross races, while doing it sometimes you question why. It's so difficult to concentrate, to pull it off, so great fun," said Van Aert, having gone back-to-back with victories on the weekend and saying he was happy not to have any injuries across the Superprestige Gullegem and then Dendermonde.
"It means a lot to me, that's for sure. To be honest, I'm ahead of the schedule I had in my mind, so it's a confidence boost to keep working to the road season."
Aerts led from the start of the eight-lap contest, dismounting to run on the series of rollers caked with heavy mud, while Ryan Kamp (Fenix) was one of the few riders able to remain seated, his pedal strokes putting him in second place.
On the first opportunity for fresh bikes, Ronhaar led all riders into the pits, with Kamp losing precious spots when he fell amid the chaos. Meanwhile, Van Aert moved to ninth position once back on the course.
Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Glowi Lions), last year's winner, set the pace to start the second lap, in a front pack with Aerts and Verstrynge. Van Aert picked his way from sixth to second place on the muddy track with pools of standing water as the riders took fresh bikes at the pits before the flyover, Verstrynge taking over the lead.
On the third lap, Van Aert assumed the lead position with Verstrynge tagging along, and the duo began to create gaps behind, Ronhaar and Aerts riding five seconds behind, and another 20 seconds to a group with Mees Hendrikx, Corné Van Kessel, Wyseure and Kevin Kuhn. Kamp had dropped to ninth and Eli Iserbyt 11th.
Unleashing powerful moves through the slippery sludge, Van Aert moved away from Verstrynge on lap 4, the gap opening to 14 seconds. Kuhn, meanwhile, moved into fifth place but was still well back of the Ronhaar and Aerts duo chasing a podium spot.
To begin the sixth lap, Van Aert extended his lead over Verstrynge to 48 seconds, Aerts now 1:16 back in solo third. Wyseure, Kuhn, Vanthourenhout and Nys began another pass of the circuit another 20-30 seconds back, the battle with the heavy mud wearing down their abilities to make any significant moves.
On the penultimate lap, Nys stumbled into the mud and was slow to remount his bike after a testing day. He was soon engaged with Ronhaar and Kuhn, but more than two minutes off the lead. Ahead, the top five had been sealed by the vicious pace set by Van Aert and the viscous condition of the course.
"It's a hard race and I knew I had to find a good pace. It was enough to finish second today," the 22-year-old Verstrynge said. "It's nice to finish on the podium just one week before [Belgian Nationals]. Next week is a completely different race, so we will see."
Verstrynge improved one spot from his third place at World Cup Namur in mid-December. His Crelan-Corendon teammate Wyseure, 23 years old, earned his seventh top 10 in eight World Cup starts, and his second time on the podium as well.
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