"Let's assume that he is still pursuing his goal and that this was just training" - Paul Herygers argues that defeats against Mathieu van der Poel are not a loss for Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert will only race one more time this cyclocross season, currently he will now take rest. This comes after a series of defeats against Mathieu van der Poel, but analyst Paul Herygers argues that this should not be a hit to the Belgian's confidence ahead of the spring.

"I hope he doesn't doubt himself now. He shouldn't think that he has failed somewhere. I understand of course: you are a rider and when you pin on your jersey number and go out with Mathieu van der Poel, you try to go along, even if it is not actually planned that way," Sporza's Paul Herygers said. "It may have hurt at times, but he has to put that behind him. Maybe his ambitions were higher, but that was not allowed. He has to stick to his plan. He has said that he would take a different approach and would put everything on the road this year."

Whilst van Aert did not show the same form of last winter, he still pursued results, having won in Essen and Heusden-Zolder. However against van der Poel he was no match - to be fair, no rider was. However, for a rider of van Aert's level it is possible that this dominance of the Dutchman will strike some impact. However he was very keen throughout the past few weeks that he was under no pressure to beat his rival, and mentally prepared himself for that.

His goals lie later in the spring, Herygers follows the same logic in that these results matter little, and the eyes are only on the monuments and the Giro d'Italia that will follow. "And perhaps that is not in vain. Because the goal we are talking about is only a few months away. So let's assume that he is still pursuing his goal and that this was just training."