Michael Vanthourenhout resigned to not follow Van der Poel attacks after 2nd in Gavere: "I didn't even try"

After a tight opening couple of laps at World Cup Gavere this Boxing Day, once Mathieu van der Poel attacked, there was no bringing back the world champion. As it turns out though, 2nd placed Michael Vanthourenhout immediately gave up hope of victory once Van der Poel started to accelerate.

"I didn't even try (to follow Van der Poel ed.)," Vanthourenhout admitted afterwards in his post-race interview. "That would be dangerous, because I could blow myself up. I really focused on second place, because I didn't manage to compete for the podium in recent years. The fact that I've managed it now is great."

In the fight for 2nd, Vanthourenhout had to hold of a surging Thibau Nys on the final lap. Despite the European champion's best efforts though, Vanthourenhout managed to hold firm and finish best of the rest. “The whole race I said to myself: wait for the last lap to attack the climb, but on the last lap I couldn't do that anymore," the Belgian concludes. "It was a struggle all the way to the top and hoping that Nys wouldn't catch up.”

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