"Mathieu quickly put pressure on me and I made a few mistakes" admits Wout van Aert post-Exact Cross Mol

At just his second cross of the season, Wout van Aert recorded an impressive second-placed finish at Exact Cross Mol albeit the Belgian was over a minute behind Mathieu van der Poel.

“I didn't feel comfortable in the sand today,” recaps van Aert in his post-race interview. “There was nothing more to it today. Mathieu quickly put pressure on me and I made a few mistakes in the sand. Then it's over quickly. So there was simply nothing more to it. I didn't feel comfortable. Normally you should have some left over on the sand. Today the sand strips were just a bit more difficult."

Nevertheless, van Aert kept battling, riding all other riders off his wheel to take second place. "Things went better in the second half of the cross. Then I found my own rhythm and I also got better technically,” he assesses. “I'm happy that I just finished. The sand doesn't lie and the differences quickly become clear. The race couldn't happen today. I'm not really disappointed, because I hadn't taken it into account either.”

In what wasn't the best preparation, van Aert spent the day before Mol at the Team Visma | Lease a Bike presentation. The Belgian is keen to not blame that however. “I would always come with my bike after a tiring day with the team presentation yesterday. So it has nothing to do with the different approach this winter.”