"I think Van der Haar is someone who has a sense of real winner" - Belgian coach Sven Vanthourenhout assesses the biggest threat to his team

The European Cyclo-Cross Championships are on the menu this weekend in Pontchateau, France. Everybody is looking forward to seeing the Dutch women and Belgian men in the action on the muddy roads. But while the situation seems one-sided for women, the men will have a tough time against who else than Dutch men again, as Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout explains to In de Leiderstrui.

In 2016, a European Championship was also held in Pontchateau, Vanthourenhout remembers. Toon Aerts won on that day, after a cyclocross full of tactics. "If we get a scenario like that at the European Championships in Pontchateau, where it was all together for a long time, it will become more of a tactical cross. I don't see any problems with that. There is always talk and action about it, but the past has shown that things have not often gone wrong," he is convinced of the capabilities of the Belgian team.

Vanthourenhout explains in a nutshell what Sunday will be all about. "The weather conditions there are very bad and I have never been to Pontchateau in that state. So we really need to be able to estimate what this will mean for the race. If it turns into a slow cross like in Koppenberg, then there will be little tactics involved. Then the tactics of the day simply emerge. If you get a quick edition, you have to talk to the boys," he says. That discussion will be before Friday or Saturday, after everyone has seen the course.

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"I think Van der Haar is someone who has a sense of honor, a real winner," Vanthourenhout looks at the likely most important opponent. "That's to his credit too. So he will try to seize his opportunity when it presents itself. For our part, we will have to be ready to assess certain situations properly and avoid misunderstandings," the Belgian leader is certain.

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Een bericht gedeeld door Jasper Jacobs (@jacobsjasper)