"I also think I wasn't much slower than him" - Wout van Aert rues nightmare start after losing out to Mathieu van der Poel at CX World Championships

Wout van Aert has been rewarded for his last minute targeting of the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships with a silver medal. Not the Rainbow Jersey he had dreamed off perhaps, but nevertheless plenty of reason to be positive.

Arguably the deciding factor of the race was the start. Whilst eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel had the front after just a couple of corners, Van Aert, having started in the 4th row, was immediately caught up in traffic. “It was really against me,” Van Aert told VTM NIEUWS post-race. “I was completely boxed in and almost hung in the fences in the first corner. It took a long time before there was space and I could start moving up. Of course I had hoped for a different scenario, but I also knew that this possibility existed. I tried to stay calm and start my race.”

Being the fighter that he is though, Van Aert worked his way back up through the field, picking off rider and rider and eventually emerging as Van der Poel's nearest challenger in 2nd. "I kept believing and tried to ride as fast as possible, to keep putting pressure on Mathieu. I also think I wasn't much slower than him. But in the second half of the race you know that it almost has to be bad luck to still have a chance. As expected, I wasn't faster than him, but with a deficit it's really difficult," he analysed.

“It is not without reason that I took my hat off to him at the finish”, Van Aert adds in conclusion, showing admiration to his long-time rival. “Nobody thought that the record would be equalled. In a way I am also glad that I was there today. Mathieu first, me second. As if it was meant to be.”