Dutch coach has "the feeling that Wout van Aert is not yet at his best level" in response to Mathieu van der Poel's cyclocross dominance

Since his return to the discipline in recent weeks, cyclocross world champion Mathieu van der Poel has been utterly dominant, taking three wins from his three outings.

According to Dutch national coach, Gerben de Knegt, a big part of this dominance for van der Poel, can be attributed to the slower start to the winter of his arch-rival, Wout van Aert. "You can't say much else about it other than that Mathieu is just fine. It all seemed that way, but then you just have to show it. I have the feeling that Wout van Aert is not yet at his best level, so I hope he can improve a bit," analyses de Knegt to In de Leiderstrui.

Aside from van der Poel, the current Dutch-level within cyclocross is elite across the board, delighting de Knegt. "With Pim Ronhaar, Ryan Kamp, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar and men like Tibor del Grosso, we can continue for years to come," de Knegt assesses. "We're doing well."