Van Der Poel Wins Trofee Herentals: A thrilling finale between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert had been anticipated at Herentals, but the Belgian’s flat tire in the closing miles prevented him from taking home the victory, leaving Van der Poel to cross the finish line unopposed.
The two cyclo-cross heavyweights engaged in another ding-dong fight on a challenging course.
As Wout Van Aert suffered a terrible final-lap puncture on his home circuit, Mathieu Van der Poel took home the Trofee Herentals.
One of the most exciting cyclo-cross seasons in recent memory continued on Tuesday in Northern Belgium, as two of the ‘Big Three’ battled it out once more; Tom Pidcock, the third, was unable to compete after colliding with another rider at the GP Sven Nys on New Year’s Day.
Van Aert and Van der Poel led the race together for the entirety of the latter stages, and once again, the remainder of the field had no response to their caliber.
Highlight of Mathieu van der Poel Victory
Van Aert, who was born in Herentals and was competing in his home race, appeared to be the favorite of the two given his recent form, which has earned him five victories thus far this season.
However, Van der Poel persisted and stopped Van Aert’s attacks, maybe to save energy for the final, arduous sprint to the finish line.
Van der Poel established a gap on the penultimate lap as Van Aert shook his head and looked down at his bike. It wasn’t clear what was wrong at first, but as he approached the pits, the bike appeared to be sliding, and a puncture in the back tire appeared to be the cause.
As a result, Van der Poel had a considerably smoother ride to the finish line than he would have anticipated, as the audience was denied a grandstand finish.
Eli Iserbyt of Belgium finished third, and Cameron Mason of the United Kingdom finished fifth. “I would have preferred to beat Wout without that flat tire,” Van der Poel commented afterward.
