"To say that Wout van Aert will beat Van der Poel would be a bit ridiculous... but it's not impossible" - Belgian ex-pro expects fantastic spectacle in Liévin

The cyclocross World Championships are just around the corner and the main debate topic is whether Mathieu van der Poel will fulfill predictions and obliterate the competition on the course in Liévin. Fortunately, a contender with capital "c" emerged at the last moment possible, raising everyone's hopes for a spectacular race. The hero in question is none other than the three-time world champion Wout Van Aert.

"You can't say that Wout van Aert will beat Van der Poel on Sunday. You might make yourself look a bit ridiculous. But saying that Van Aert can beat Mathieu van der Poel, that's a different story. Thanks to that addition, we have someone in the Belgian selection who doesn't fear Van der Poel," beams Paul Herygers in his column on Sporza.

"Although Van Aert hasn't been able to prove that with results yet." After all, Van Aert appeared in great shape in Maasmechelen World Cup when he was the only man able to (although from a considerable distance) keep up with Van der Poel's pace. "Van Aert started from the 4th row, rode to the lead, fell, joined the front again, went over the top and rode away from everyone again with his finger in his nose. Except for Van der Poel, because he was already gone. Then you can go to the World Championship with a bit of courage, right?"

Herygers thinks that Van der Poel might be even "a bit happy" that Van Aert is at the World Championships after all. "But I think he is also getting a bit stressed. Because that same Wout van Aert has proven so often in the past that he is Van der Poel's equal. Van der Poel lost a world title to Van Aert three times. Without Wout, he could now aim for rainbow jersey number 10."

The predicted swampy and difficult (running) course seems to be a blessing for Van Aert, who will need to fight from far back at the start. "But whether he will be able to keep up with Van der Poel for long is anyone's guess. Everything suggests that it might be possible," Herygers states. "I hope for a fair duel in which Van Aert takes up the gauntlet against Van der Poel and moves along. The rest has to be filled in by Wout himself."

The statistics clearly speak in Van der Poel's favour, because of the last 11 duels between them, the Dutchman emerged victorious 10 times. "But the race still has to be ridden," Herygers dusts off an age-old cliché. "When Van der Poel became the youngest world champion ever in Tabor 2015, he may not have had the right to do so. Because Van Aert then rode his chain off 3 times and came in a mere few seconds."

On Sunday, bad luck can once again decide between victory and defeat. "Nobody deserves to be set back by bad luck. But it can happen and it is part of the cyclocross."