Mathieu van der Poel : "There wasn't much on the sprint, Wout was the strongest there"

Mathieu van der Poel had to settle for silver in Exact cross Loenhout. At the last minute, he made a small mistake that led Wout van Aert to win.

The final came down to a battle between van der Poel and van Aert, but the Dutchman lost the title due to a small mistake. "There were very deep tracks there, and I got into the wrong track, which made me go to the other side,” van der Poel said in the post-race interview.

He further added, "After that, there wasn't much on the sprint, Wout was the strongest there. I had already made a big effort for that sprint. That lead was initially also big enough to hold it until the line. Then I didn't have to ride that sprint.”

Despite recent struggles in his races, the Dutchman remains unfazed. Even today he gave his best. “That's a shame because that mistake cost me the win. But the condition and form are good. Even without the best legs, I tried to make the cross,” concluded van der Poel.