Lars van der Haar has been incredibly consistent this season, never finishing a race outside the Top 5. That consistency is finally starting to pay off, as the Dutchman jumped into the lead of the Superprestige cup after a strong showing in Heusden-Zolder.
As Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel stormed to fight for the victory in the first lap, van der Haar was among the chasers, but looking to save himself in the back of the group. “It meant that I had to be in the lead all the time, so that I could at least be the first to enter the post and the last to reconnect. But then the whole group falls apart and I have to catch up again," he said after the race.
However, his form on the day became clear in the second half as other riders began to fade. "At one point I was only out with Pidcock. I had already ridden the other riders. So I decided to just keep riding and see what it would give on the line," the Dutchman continued.
What it ended up giving was the lead in the Superprestige. Unknown to him, cup leader Laurens Sweeck was struggling with back issues and rode to eighth place, whilst van der Haar's third saw him take over the cup lead. The gaps are not big, but now the Baloise - Trek Lions rider stands ahead of Sweeck, Michael Vanthourenhout and Eli Iserbyt by 5, 8 and 11 points respectively.
Van der Haar has not won much this season, but now finds himself in a crucial position. He will have to defend his lead already in Diegem later today, but he is ready for the challenge. “It will be another tough cross. I'm just going for a good result again and then we'll see who's in front and behind me at the end," he concluded.
🏆 Superprestige Heusden-Zolder (C1) 🇧🇪 1 🇧🇪 Wout van Aert 2 🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel 3 🇳🇱 Lars van der Haar 4 🇬🇧 Pidcock 5 🇧🇪 Vanthourenhout 6 🇳🇱 Nieuwenhuis 7 🇧🇪 Hermans 8 🇧🇪 L. Sweeck 9 🇨🇭 Kuhn 10 🇧🇪 Vandeputte ➡️ Results: bit.ly/3BZvZJl #SPHeusdenZolder
