"What happened to Wout is truly awful" - Van der Poel on his rivals' injuries; return to Spain for training

Mathieu van der Poel took what was perhaps his most dominant win of the cyclocross season thus far at the World Cup Zonhoven, despite claiming he is not yet at his best level. The World Champion has recalled Wout van Aert, and also talked about his return home to Spain where he will focus on preparing for the cyclocross world championships now. 

"I was subconsciously thinking about it during the cyclocross. What happened to Wout is truly awful," van der Poel said when asked by Wielerflits about his rival. "He's already had so much setback, and of course, you wouldn't wish that on anyone. Let's just hope his road season preparations aren't jeopardized."

The Dutchman will ultimately benefit from the absence of Van Aert who looked to challenge him in Loenhout and then also Mol, but had punctures and a crash ruin both races. Laurens Sweeck has crashed and ended his season whilst leading the World Cup, whilst Thibau Nys has also crashed yesterday in Zonhoven - all of this has cleared way for van der Poel to dominate and now lead the World Cup as well. But it can happen to anyone, including him. 

"You saw it happen to Laurens Sweeck in Loenhout too. It just goes to show that every fall, no matter how harmless it seems, can have serious consequences. I haven't forgotten how I ended up with a rib injury myself last year during a training camp in Spain after colliding with that post in Loenhout. These are things you'd rather not have happen to you."

However, he gets through this Christmas block relatively unscathed. He has gone down, but never in a a dramatic way, and after a few weeks spent in Belgium and the Netherlands, he returns to Spain where he will be putting in the hours on the bike again, looking to increase his level even further in the next few weeks as he lays his eyes on a record-breaking victory at the World Championships. 

"You always need those extra hours after such a busy period with so many cyclocross races. On the one hand, I'm really working towards the Cyclocross World Championships in Hulst. That remains a big goal, so I'll be doing some interval training every now and then to be in top form at the start and aim for the rainbow jersey. I'm really working towards that," he is clear. 

He will race the final two World Cup rounds in Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide, but his presence in the Benidorm World Cup - right by where he lives - is uncertain. Training for the time being is the priority. "Of course, there will also be a lot of endurance training in my schedule, with that spring in mind. I'll be putting in a lot of hours, with the necessary rest breaks here and there."

"I got through this Christmas period well, but I'm certainly not at my best yet," he adds, interestingly. "I think I was definitely better at this point last year, but I can't complain. I think I can leave for Spain with a good feeling now; last year was a bit of a disappointment with the broken rib I suffered. I just have to be happy with how everything went in the past races".