"I saw him pass by once after a hundred meters and then he was already gone" - Mathieu van der Poel unreachable according to Joran Wyseure who podiums Zonhoven

Joran Wyseure has been having a breakthrough season and it has been made clear that when there is sand on course, he is one of the world's best. He joined World and European Championships Mathieu van der Poel and Thibau Nys today at the World Cup Zonhoven, without a doubt one of the very best rides of his career.

“I had a really good start. After that I was able to ride at my own pace [...] Yesterday was difficult for me. I made a lot of mistakes. Today it was really the whole race on my own strength. I am super happy that I was able to ride to third place," the Crelan-Corendon said in a post-race interview.

Wyseure won the Superprestige Ruddervoorde earlier this year in a sandy course, and has finished recently in the Top5 in the Antwerpen and Dublin World Cups. It's a coming of age, and although yesterday in Hulst he struggled a lot and finished outside the Top20, this Sunday he was once again riding alongside the very best.

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A very consistent and mature ride saw him match Lars van der Haar's attack in the final few laps, and then latch on to Toon Aerts in the final lap. Wyseure, 23, was able to attack the veteran and move into third place, with Thibau Nys in sight after many laps behind.

"In the last lap I was able to catch up with Toon [Aerts] and I finished third. It was difficult to catch up with him, but in the last half lap I passed him. I overtook him at the material post and thought: I now have to ride one long sprint to the finish," he explains. "Then it is fantastic that I make it before him.” It's a tremendous podium place with two of the sport's best, perhaps more impressive then his win earlier in the winter.

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“It is certainly nice to start the Christmas period in this condition. I think I have been good all season, except for two races. Then it is nice to achieve a third place in such a tough race as the one in Zonhoven. With these weather conditions it was more of a mud cross than a sand cross, but I really thought it was the best. I enjoyed myself today," he admit.

On Van der Poel, he admits there was nothing to be done and he could barely even see the World Champion. “Watching? I didn’t see him much, haha. I saw him pass by once after a hundred meters and then he was already gone. It is simply phenomenal how he rides around here, without much cross-specific preparation. And we have been training for months," he concludes. "But it is super nice for the sport that he is at the start and will ride some races this winter. There were a lot of people.”

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