"Everyone will now look at them, that's perfect" - Lars van der Haar sees positives in return of Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock to cyclocross

Whilst many expect the return of the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock to cyclocross will bring an end to the winning hopes of those who've been competing so far this winter, Lars van der Haar actually sees the positives.

"I expect Mathieu to be 100 percent right away, Pidcock sometimes needs a few races to reach his level," van der Haar has recently told Herentals Crosst about the situation. "The arrival of van der Poel and Pidcock also has advantages. Everyone will now look at them, that's perfect. That way we can work in a bit of a shelter."

With two wins this winter, van der Haar has been consistently in and around the podium. In fact, the 32-year-old has finished second at each of his last four races. "Does a podium place now have more value? Not for me," he clarifies however. "A stage always has the same value."

"A few extra victories would have been nice, but several times I came across a strong Eli Iserbyt or a teammate who was having a good day. However, after twelve years in the field, I am very happy that I can still achieve such great results. My secret? No idea. I mainly tried to keep the fun going," he explains. "Nowadays I even need less time to recover. I used to go much deeper. As you get older, you have grown more hardiness and you can handle those tougher races better. I may not be able to peak as much as those young guys, but my results are more consistent."