Mathieu van der Poel has been the undoubted, number one force in cyclocross this winter. Can he cap it all off with another Rainbow Jersey win later today in Tabor? According to 1990 world champion, Henk Baars, anything else would be a shame.
"I enjoyed Van der Poel again this winter and I continue to be amazed that Mathieu only seems to be getting better. And that he is a winner who can almost always take control of the race, while he still has a strong opponent with someone like Wout van Aert," Baars says glowingly to De Telegraaf. "It's a shame that Wout is not there at this World Championship, as far as I'm concerned, the strongest belong on this stage. I assume that Mathieu will win on Sunday, although something can always happen to you on such a day. But no one hopes for that."
The view that van der Poel will surely win bar any accident is one shared by many, including some of the riders themselves. It the race were to go down like that it would be a great injustice Baars believes however. "I can hope that Mathieu will become world champion. It would almost be a shame to see someone else riding in that jersey for a year because they benefit from bad luck in Tabor. No one else deserves that world title."
"Mathieu is simply better and we should enjoy having such an exceptional rider. When I hear the Belgians say that they hope to beat Van der Poel, I mostly laugh. I will sit in front of the television on Sunday and wait for the 'sign' that he is about to leave," Baars concludes. "It's not a question of if he will attack but when, because he probably won't want to finish eight laps ahead of the others. But if he shifts his gears, he's gone and he wins his sixth world title. That's incredibly clever."
