Old habits die hard - Mathieu van der Poel dominantly wins return cyclocross at Herentals

Mathieu van der Poel had an easy time today in Herentals, winning his comeback race in cyclocross after putting in a strong attack on the opening minutes of the race.

The World Champion took the holeshot on the first lap and did not wait. The World Champion showed off his new rainbow jersey for the first time in this race and provided the performance that the team dreamed of. In the climbing section on lap 1, he immediately put distance into the rest of the field.

Van der Poel soared away uncontested, as he's done plenty times in the past, to a victory that has proven his form is very good. This did include a small crash, but he was quickly upright.

The chase featured Eli Iserbyt, Lars van der Haar and Niels Vandeputte. The two rivals worked together but saw Cameron Mason return a few laps later, whilst Tom Pidcock slowly rode through the field to reach this chasing group as well.

The chasing group closed in slightly on the Dutchman towards the end but the gap was too big. Tom Pidcock rode to a strong second place, taking over Lars van der Haar who was just ahead of Eli Iserbyt.