Nathan Van Hooydonck analyzes the MVDP vs. WVA rivalry: "By racing against each other, they have also pushed each other to new limits"

Nathan Van Hooydonck grew racing in the same age category as phenomenon Mathieu van der Poel, but when he later turned pro and joined Wout Van Aert's team, he needed to work out a winning strategy against the Dutchman. Yet not much has changed since juniors - Van der Poel still seems to be a step ahead of his rival.

Van Hooydonck analyzed the relationship between the two on the The Ultimate Cycling Show. "Wout missed two classic campaigns, one due to corona and last year due to that terrible crash. But Mathieu has shown that he is a better cyclist when it comes to the biggest appointments. Wout has won great classics with Gent-Wevelgem, E3, Milano-Sanremo, in fact all the races you want to win. Except for the two biggest, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders."

"In my opinion, it's the best rivalry there is," says Van Hooydonck. "I've experienced it up close. I grew up racing against Mathieu, but then I joined Wout's team. Together we always raced against Mathieu and had to make plans to beat him. It's not something that keeps you awake at night, but you're constantly thinking about it and you keep thinking about how to beat him. Because he's so strong and good."

"Wout and Mathieu have always raced against each other. I am convinced that by racing against each other, they have also pushed each other to new limits," says the retired Belgian. "There was a period when Wout won three cyclocross World Championships in a row, but now Mathieu has so many that I have lost count. And he is the better one again. But it is something that can always keep you hungry, which automatically makes you aim higher to be able to beat the other one."

In the coming weeks we will see them in a duel again. "In my opinion they approach the Tour with different goals, but in the classics they have the same mindset. And that is: winning. So that is where we will see the rivalry again this year. Let's hope that it will also happen at the World Championships, but first they will both be at their best in the spring," expects Van Hooydonck.