"I don't think he wants to compete with Mathieu every week" - Lars van der Haar analyzes Wout Van Aert's winter schedule

Wout van Aert returned to the field in Essen on December 9, after which it was Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock's turn last Saturday in Herentals. The Belgian and the Dutch will cross swords for the first time in Mol on Friday, and the Brit will join the fun the next day in Antwerp.

Lars Van der Haar finished third in Herentals behind Van der Poel and Pidcock. After that cyclocross, he immediately took off his proverbial hat to Van der Poel. "I actually only saw Mathieu at the start, so I didn't even see his first attack. I'm not a fan of a fast start either, but it went so terribly fast. I had my head in the frame."

After weeks of different winners in biggest cyclocross events, the hierarchy was reinstalled with the return of the Big Three again. However, Van der Haar does not mourn it. "We showed some nice crosses, but I would also like to win them solo. If you can do that, it's very impressive."

To ask the question out loud is to answer it, Van der Haar must have thought. He looks into Van Aert's schedule. "If you now see what Wout has done with his program towards the spring, I don't know whether he wants to compete with a superior Mathieu every week." We'll see it in Mol and Antwerp...