Lars van der Haar finished second in X2O Trofee Kortrijk. The Dutchman was disappointed with another silver. This is his seventh time finishing second.
"I'm here second again, again behind someone else who is first," said van der Haar in the post-race interview. He continues, “It's kind of sour. But yes, we have to take the good form with us, and we had a nice battle."
Although Van der Haar pursued Pidcock for a long time, he couldn't catch the world champion. "I did everything I could to still get to Pidcock, but I just really couldn't get those last seven seconds closed. Then Eli came back at one point, which was very strong of him. Then in the last lap, I changed to two Rhinos for the sprint. I didn't expect him to have that kind of acceleration after I changed, so I had to seriously push to get back," said Van der Haar.
He was quick to recognise his mistake, but by then, it was already late. In the end, he had to accept another silver. "Actually, I should have changed a lap earlier, it was a gamble, but I didn't expect him to still have such a fast straight. That was clever, but luckily I was still able to come back. Because of the double rhino I had, I was able to come out of the corners just a little bit harder, which made the start just a little bit faster. And in the sprint, I had a harder rear tire, which made the speed just a bit faster. That's what I was hoping for," concluded Van der Haar.