Mathieu van der Poel: “I didn't have a good feeling today. I can't be satisfied with this result”

It was not Mathieu van der Poel’s day in Exact Cross Mol. He finished second, 30 seconds behind winner Wout van Aert.

During the first six laps, the Dutchman was doing well. The seventh lap saw Wout van Aert slip one up on him. After the seventh lap, he was 13 seconds behind the Belgian, which increased to 30 seconds the following lap.

It is disappointing for Van der Poel, but he knows what needs to be done to make it right. “I didn't have a good feeling today. I can't be satisfied with this result,” he said in the post-race interview.

He concluded with, “I hope to give more resistance in the next races in the Kerstperiode. Otherwise, I will be only chasing Wout van Aert. It's a bit of a swallow, but we have to keep going.”