"The way Mathieu is riding now, he is very difficult to beat" - Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert kept up with Mathieu van der Poel for a few laps in Mol this Friday afternoon, however there was a clear gap between the two in terms of form on the day. Van Aert repeats the words that every other victory contender has said for the past week, it will be very difficult to beat the Dutchman.

"My approach this winter is really just much more progressive. In the past, I used to focus a lot more on that very first cyclocross race, and then I would intensively compete throughout the cyclo-cross season, before preparing for the road season," van Aert told In de Leiderstrui. "Now, the goal is much more to train gradually throughout the winter towards the road season. Indeed, it's a winter without result-oriented goals. But that doesn't mean it's a winter without effort."

The Jumbo-Visma rider is effectively racing without pressure, but nevertheless he will want to take some strong results and challenge Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock. The latter he will only meet today in Antwerp, but he had a not-so-pleasant experience with the World Champion in what was their first battle since the Hoogerheide World Championships. "I suffered immensely today."

"I do expect myself to improve bit by bit in every race. Let's hope that I do. But on the other hand, the way Mathieu is riding now, he is very difficult to beat," van Aert admits. "I'm not disappointed about that per se, since everyone determines how they plan their season for themselves. Mathieu was already very strong in Herentals, and he started his preparation much earlier than I did, as I continued racing for a longer time. He probably rested longer than I did as well. Normally, that's a plausible explanation," the 29-year old concluded.