"That he is already winning is pretty good" - Adrie van der Poel positively surprised by Mathieu's win in Hulst

The cyclocross season of Mathieu van der Poel began with a victory at the Hulst World Cup. The gap he accumulated by the last lap was enough to ensure a safe finish.

Father Adrie van der Poel is proud of his son's accomplishment. "That he is already winning is pretty good," Adrie Van der Poel told WielerFlits. He continues, "Conditionally, we already knew he's pretty good, but you depend on the start. That went really well."

He also commented on Van der Poel’s new strategy. "In the first two or three laps, Mathieu was way too eager, but in itself, it looked good. What struck me most was that he was definitely able to ride a tooth or two bigger than in other years. He didn't compromise on his acceleration otherwise, and on the straights, he can pedal a good gear. That's nice. It remains to be seen how his back will react, but he is working very hard on it, and it has been much better the last few months."

He is not worried about Wout van Aert’s return to cyclocross. "Who, like Mathieu, is going to get a very high level right away. I also put Pidcock in there. He was very unfortunate today but very good. It could well be that we are going to see some great crosses in the coming weeks," concluded Adrie Van der Poel.