"In the big moments he rarely, if ever, makes a mistake" - Belgian national coach aware that beating Mathieu van der Poel at World Championships will be difficult

The cyclocross World Championships are almost at our door. Only week and a half remains until the riders find themselves in Tabor, and Belgium's national coach Sven Vanthourenhout has serious doubts that anyone will be able to match Mathieu van der Poel.

"It will be very difficult to beat him. In the big moments he rarely, if ever, makes a mistake," Vanthourenhout argued with Sporza. "That's why you have to stay sharp. We don't wish Mathieu to have any setbacks, we have a lot of respect for him, but you have to grab that half per cent."

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Racing will not likely be collective, but instead all riders will individually try to match the reigning World Champion. Van der Poel has dominated most of his races so far this season, with the exception of the recent Benidorm World Cup where he suffered from a mechanical at the start of the race, and then a crash on the penultimate lap. Something like this could happen in the Czech Republic, and rivals will look to

"You can always make mistakes and unfortunately bad luck is part of sport, but we wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially an athlete like Van der Poel. However, the fact remains that every 'cross must be raced," he continues. "The fact that Mathieu van der Poel himself already said that the World Championships is the most important race of his cyclocross campaign for him says a lot. When he sets a goal, he rarely misses it."

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It will be difficult for anyone to be close to him, specially in the absence of Tom Pidcock, but most importantly, Belgium's headliner: Wout van Aert. "It's a shame, but we've known that for some time. We haven't tried to convince him anymore. I asked him again, in a playful way." 'You will have to do it without me this year,' van Aert, who won in Benidorm, had replied to Vanthourenhout. 

"If something needs to be done for our medal candidates - such as Eli [Iserbyt] or Michael [Vanthourenhout] - it will be done. We have a good group. It would be a shame if [a podium] didn't work, but I have confidence in my team," he concludes.

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"What can we offer them then? Mathieu, yes... but that is often only for a World Championship" - Gerben de Knegt concerned for future prospects of Dutch cyclocross