Mathieu Van der Poel wins Zolder World Cup
By Brecht Decaluwé published
World Champion passes Worlds preview test, tops Pauwels, Van der Haar
Mathieu Van der Poel (BKCP-Corendon) put on an impressive display of power to take out the victory in the Zolder round of the World Cup, on the same circuit where the Dutch rider will defend his rainbow jersey next month. Van der Poel topped Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) and Lars van der Haar (Giant-Alpecin), with Klaas Vantornout out-sprinted for fourth by Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea). World Cup leader Wout Van Aert could only manage 8th on the day, but it was enough to hold onto his white jersey by 16 points from Van der Haar.
The dry and fast course in the Terlaemen township kept the race largely together for the first half of the race, but eventually Van der Haar and Van der Poel used their speed to create a gap. Pauwels fought his way to the leaders, making it three well-matched riders. The decisive moment came when Van der Haar was confronted with a flat tyre in the penultimate lap, and Van der Poel seized the moment.
“It was really hard to make a difference. It was just before the hardest part of the course with the running section and the uphill I saw that Lars had a flat tyre. I thought that it was the right moment to make the move because I had the feeling that Lars was the strongest, a bit stronger than me this day [sic]. It’s a race that really suits him,” Van der Poel said.
Belgian champion Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games), Tim Merlier (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) and Clément Venturini (Cofidis) surged away at the end of the opening lap, but Van der Poel closed the gap on the three leaders on the second lap, using his superior climbing abilites. Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) and Lars van der Haar were the only riders who were able to keep up. World Cup leader Van Aert seemed to have an off day, and wasn’t close enough to the front to follow the move. Van Aert was also unable to follow Pauwels as he bridged up to the lead group on the thrid lap.
Pauwels dangled behind dual attacks from Van der Poel and Van der Haar, and for most of the fourth lap he chased solo, finally bridging up at the start of lap five of nine. Van der Poel sensed Pauwels' arrival, and knew he had to keep pushing. “I knew he rode his own pace," Van der Poel said of Pauwels. "What I predicted ahead of the race came true, that Kevin and Lars would be my biggest rivals on this course."
Just before hitting the penultimate lap Van der Poel accelerated on a steep run-up and the steep climb that followed. He gained a handful of seconds, but neither Van der Haar nor Pauwels cracked and both bridged back up when Van der Poel eased up. One lap later Van der Poel repeated his acceleration, but Van der Haar was unable to follow because of his puncture. Pauwels kept the pressure on the world champion, but was unable to bring him back before the line.
“I felt good but not super. I knew it would be hard in the final lap because Kevin was pushing on," Van der Poel said. "I had to dig deep again. I’m really confident now [...] The conditions can be very different in seven weeks. There can be snow as well. [...] I’m more confident now than if I would be tenth."
Tom Meeusen won the sprint for fourth place just ahead of Vantornout. Sixth-placed Venturini confirmed his strong result from last week’s Namur World Cup round. Merlier won the sprint for seventh place ahead of Van Aert, taking away two possibly crucial points from his teammate. Van der Haar closes in to 16 points from Van Aert in the World Cup standings.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP-Corendon | 1:09:03 |
2 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 0:00:02 |
3 | Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Team Giant - Alpecin | 0:00:46 |
4 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:01:10 |
5 | Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 0:01:11 |
6 | Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:01:17 |
7 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 0:01:20 |
8 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | |
9 | Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | |
10 | Sven Nys (Bel) Crelan-AA Drink | 0:01:21 |
11 | Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | |
12 | Michael Boros (Cze) BKCP-Corendon | 0:01:28 |
13 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 0:01:29 |
14 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 0:02:08 |
15 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team | 0:02:20 |
16 | Jeremy Powers (USA) Aspire | 0:02:24 |
17 | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) BKCP-Corendon | 0:02:25 |
18 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | |
19 | Simon Zahner (Swi) | |
20 | Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:02:26 |
21 | Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 0:02:30 |
22 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team | 0:02:33 |
23 | Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld | 0:02:35 |
24 | Rob Peeters (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 0:03:30 |
25 | Steve Chainel (Fra) | 0:03:41 |
26 | Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa) | 0:03:49 |
27 | Sascha Weber (Ger) CCT p/b Champion System | 0:04:10 |
28 | Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Remerx-Merida Team Kolin | 0:04:20 |
29 | Niels Wubben (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:04:29 |
30 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | |
31 | Ian Field (GBr) | 0:04:30 |
32 | Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:05:05 |
33 | Mariusz Gil (Pol) | 0:05:29 |
34 | Vojtech Nipl (Cze) | 0:05:38 |
35 | Severin Saegesser (Swi) | 0:05:40 |
36 | Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) | 0:05:56 |
37 | Travis Livermon (USA) | 0:06:01 |
38 | Ole Quast (Ger) | 0:06:11 |
39 | Aaron Schooler (Can) | 0:06:22 |
40 | Michael Van Den Ham (Can) | 0:06:38 |
41 | Vincent Dias Dos Santos (Lux) | 0:06:47 |
42 | Nicolas Samparisi (Ita) | 0:07:03 |
43 | Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team | 0:07:15 |
44 | Kenneth Hansen (Den) | |
45 | Jeremy Martin (Can) | |
46 | Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) | |
47 | Gusty Bausch (Lux) | |
48 | Michal Malik (Cze) | |
49 | Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) Merida Italia Team | |
50 | Garry Millburn (Aus) | |
51 | Matej Lasak (Cze) | |
52 | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) Veranclassic - Ekoi | |
53 | Christian Helmig (Lux) Team Differdange - Losch | |
54 | Robert Marion (USA) | |
55 | Mark Mcconnell (Can) | |
56 | Ulrich Theobald (Ger) | |
57 | Johann Rigoulay (Fra) | |
58 | Yannick Mayer (Ger) Bike Aid | |
59 | Christophe Cavazzana (Fra) | |
60 | James Spragg (GBr) CCT p/b Champion System | |
61 | Daniel Ania Gonzalez (Spa) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 336 | pts |
2 | Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Team Giant - Alpecin | 320 | |
3 | Sven Nys (Bel) Crelan-AA Drink | 303 | |
4 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 296 | |
5 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP-Corendon | 225 | |
6 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 221 | |
7 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 211 | |
8 | Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 211 | |
9 | Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 194 | |
10 | Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 191 | |
11 | Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 180 | |
12 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 171 | |
13 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 167 | |
14 | Michael Boros (Cze) BKCP-Corendon | 163 | |
15 | Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 149 | |
16 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb - Napoleon Games Cycling Team | 148 | |
17 | Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 144 | |
18 | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) BKCP-Corendon | 141 | |
19 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team | 140 | |
20 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 138 | |
21 | Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 130 | |
22 | Simon Zahner (Swi) | 120 | |
23 | Niels Wubben (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 117 | |
24 | Jeremy Powers (USA) | 115 | |
25 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team | 115 | |
26 | Jens Adams (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 114 | |
27 | Rob Peeters (Bel) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 105 | |
28 | Marcel Meisen (Ger) | 104 | |
29 | Ian Field (GBr) | 95 | |
30 | Steve Chainel (Fra) | 89 | |
31 | Radomir Simunek (Cze) Era Real Estate - Murprotec | 83 | |
32 | Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Corendon | 69 | |
33 | Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ | 67 | |
34 | David Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP-Corendon | 66 | |
35 | Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) | 65 | |
36 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 56 | |
37 | Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld | 56 | |
38 | Sascha Weber (Ger) CCT p/b Champion System | 54 | |
39 | Lukas Winterberg (Swi) | 45 | |
40 | Martin Haring (Svk) Ck Banska Bystrica | 44 | |
41 | Ryan Trebon (USA) | 39 | |
42 | Severin Saegesser (Swi) | 39 | |
43 | Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 35 | |
44 | Adam Toupalik (Cze) BKCP-Corendon | 34 | |
45 | Curtis White (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 31 | |
46 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) FDJ | 29 | |
47 | Adam Craig (USA) | 29 | |
48 | Mariusz Gil (Pol) | 27 | |
49 | Josep Betalu (Spa) | 27 | |
50 | Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa) | 24 | |
51 | Travis Livermon (USA) Team Smartstop | 24 | |
52 | Andreas Moser (Swi) | 24 | |
53 | James Driscoll (USA) | 23 | |
54 | Vojtech Nipl (Cze) | 22 | |
55 | Jeremy Martin (Can) | 21 | |
56 | Lubomir Petrus (Cze) | 21 | |
57 | Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 19 | |
58 | Daniel Summerhill (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team | 19 | |
59 | Lukas Fluckiger (Swi) | 17 | |
60 | Nicolas Samparisi (Ita) | 15 | |
61 | Derek Zandstra (Can) | 15 | |
62 | Matej Lasak (Cze) | 14 | |
63 | Mark Mcconnell (Can) | 14 | |
64 | John Gadret (Fra) Movistar Team | 13 | |
65 | Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) | 13 | |
66 | Brian Matter (USA) | 13 | |
67 | Alois Falenta (Fra) | 13 | |
68 | Michael Van Den Ham (Can) | 13 | |
69 | Michael Schweizer (Ger) | 11 | |
70 | Kenneth Hansen (Den) | 11 | |
71 | Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | 11 | |
72 | Allen Krughoff (USA) | 10 | |
73 | Gusty Bausch (Lux) | 10 | |
74 | Craig Richey (Can) | 9 | |
75 | Ondrej Bambula (Cze) | 8 | |
76 | Dan Timmerman (USA) | 8 | |
77 | Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) Merida Italia Team | 8 | |
78 | Michal Malik (Cze) | 7 | |
79 | Marco Bianco (Ita) | 7 | |
80 | Kerry Werner (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 6 | |
81 | Jack Clarkson (GBr) | 5 | |
82 | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) Veranclassic - Ekoi | 5 | |
83 | Garry Millburn (Aus) | 4 | |
84 | Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 4 | |
85 | Maximilian Holz (Ger) | 3 | |
86 | Geoff Kabush (Can) | 3 | |
87 | Michael Wildhaber (Swi) | 2 | |
88 | Christopher Aitken (Aus) | 2 | |
89 | Antonin Marecaille (Fra) | 1 | |
90 | Robert Marion (USA) | 1 | |
91 | Tobin Ortenblad (USA) | 1 |

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