"If he is at last year's level, the others will be out of luck" - Bart Wellens sees no hope for cyclocross regulars against returning Mathieu van der Poel

When Mathieu van der Poel takes to the start line of a cyclocross race, more often than not, the Alpecin-Deceuninck star finishes with his arms aloft in celebration. With his return to racing the winter imminent, former world champion Bart Wellens already sees no hope for the cyclocross regulars.

"There was a lot of speculation that Van der Poel was not going to do any or very little cyclo-crossing, so he does surprise a bit with 11 crosses. That's only nice. And it's also nice that he's going full out for the World Championship again," analyses Wellens in his regular column for Het Nieuwsblad.

The return of Van der Poel and fellow superstar Wout van Aert hasn't been greeted with universal happiness in the sport though. For example, ahead of Saturday's X2O Badkammers Trofee race in Herentals, World Cup leader Michael Vanthourenhout admitted some frustration. "Enough has been written about it. Even before they have ridden a race, they have already received more media attention than if we had won 10 races in a season. I think that is a shame," the former European champion told Sporza.

According to Wellens though, when Van der Poel returns, the hopes of victory for the likes of Vanthourenhout fade away. "Maybe unfortunate for the pure cross riders, but he really wants to chase Erik De Vlaeminck's record. If he is at last year's level, the others will be out of luck. Even if he is not 100 per cent, Van der Poel will always compete for the win," the 46-year-old explains. "The others should then see it as a challenge to get as close to him as possible. Maybe he is beatable? That should be the ambition."

For Van der Poel, his season gets underway on December 22nd in Zonhoven. As mentioned by Wellens, the Dutchman faces a total of 11 crosses in total this winter, culminating at the Cyclocross World Championships.