Toon Aerts delighted to be best of the race behind Mathieu van der Poel: " I had tears in my eyes "
Cyclocross
Mathieu van der Poel wrapped up his 2024 cyclocross season with another commanding performance, taking victory at the World Cup Besançon. The rainbow jersey wearer defeated Toon Aerts, who finished in second place, with Niels Vandeputte completing the podium in third.
Reflecting on his race, Aerts described the challenges of the Besançon course, "It was difficult. The climb at the back of the course is certainly something that hurts. But for the rest, it was mainly about technique. In Hulst, a week ago, I was still really searching for technique. I had a hard time finding my way then. But today it went surprisingly well. I have to say that this circuit is similar to that of Liévin, so that gives me confidence."
Illness had impacted Aerts’ performances in recent weeks, but he showed determination to push through, "I may not be fully recovered yet, I feel that everything is still coming loose in my nose. But at some point, you have to go all-in again. That was today," said the 31-year-old rider.
Aerts also spoke about how his recent struggles had affected his confidence, "The confidence had completely disappeared. If you have to skip a race like Loenhout – six, seven kilometres from my doorstep – I had tears in my eyes when I had to make that decision. Riding and winning in Loenhout is a childhood dream. But that gave me the courage today to make that hour a full one."
In the closing stages, Aerts maintained his composure as Vandeputte challenged for second place, "I didn't really get nervous about that. I didn't come here today with the ambition to win. You know that a Mathieu van der Poel starts here. And that Niels Vandeputte can do this very well. But I wanted to secure that podium, so I looked more at Joran than at Niels."
Aerts also explained his approach to managing the race dynamics,"Niels wasn't going to take over either, because Mathieu, his teammate, was gone. I just kept doing my own thing. I rode a high pace, so that Joran didn't come back. And eventually I was able to get Niels in a gap."
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- You mean apart from: Equaling XC WC record Remaining Monuments A respectable number of TDF stages XCO WC Besting XC WC record Olympic gold Maybe in that order, maybe all of them :-)Mistermaumau01-01-2025
- Just like speed limits on the road. It is impossible to exceed them.mobk01-01-2025
- It’s one of those words everyone has a right to use in the way they feel and it is up to the reader/listener to interpret in which way it was intended. Some people or more, others less good at that but in this age many deliberately misinterpret, they (no-one in particular here) know exactly what was meant but it suits agendas to pretend otherwise. That said, limits in sport are used in a multitude of ways and so understanding context is crucial, you can pass your current limit (skill, physical, mental, performance, and improve, it’s something we all do, we have to to get from current to future level. Basically we never can attain the final limit, there is always margin for improvement but we are also always stuck at a limit until we get past it. Inthink what makes champions is that they refuse to accept their current limits and can always surprise by pushing to a new level they don’t know they’ll reach in advance. It is the nature of sport, moving the goalpost limits further and further. We have seen impossible limits come and go, eg in athletics 10s sprint 4m mile 1h semi and soon 2h marathon, 9000 decathlon. With accidents it’s different again, non-fatal ones allow us to learn where limits are or were and see if we can push them more, fatal ones embed an image of defined limits that can’t be altered.Mistermaumau01-01-2025
- thank you! yes, a limit is, by definition, a limit. i made the mistake of speaking figuratively about riding beyond one’s limit, having been led astray by common cycling parlance about “limits.” e.g… A few years back, after losing a horrifically hard cx race to mvdp (in i THINK it was Namur), wout van aert said, “it has always been a great ability of mathieu to be able to ride beyond his limit. i’m capable of riding a very good finale also, but often mathieu can just go deeper than i can…” this talk of “going deep” and “riding beyond the limit” is not scientific, clearly. it’s about some riders being able to cope with a higher degree of pain and discomfort for longer than others. cycling, we all know, is a sport defined by suffering. in many, most, or even all cases, the mind quits before the body absolutely fails — and here i AM speaking scientifically. so, “riding beyond one’s limit” could be understood to literally (or even clinically?) mean having the ability to cope with pain in a way that gets you closer to your absolute physiological limit. we all know, just as humans walking around on the planet, that everyone handles pain differently. cycling is a sport for professional sufferers. but it’s still just a microcosm of the population and some will be better at it than others, and SOMEBODY is going to be the “best” at it. that IS an absolute. now, i dunno if mathieu is THAT GUY, but he certainly appears to be on the short list. thanks for the comment. checking sloppy language is worthwhile and often stimulates thought and discussion. hopefully someone else will say something a lot more interesting about what “limits” mean in cycling than i have. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!OCexile01-01-2025
- 50 mil is not okay, no no. But 20-25 or however many FDJ is investing is perfectly fine Makes sensevappaxbipmv01-01-2025
- Money for the teams goes down, "Oh my gosh, a crisis, what will we do?" Money for the teams goes up, "Oh my gosh, a crisis, what will we do?" The response from "small" team owners (especially Vaughters) is always the same, revenue sharing, capping team spending, and solidifying who gets to be in the upper echelons of cycling. Odd, that is precisely the thing that most benefits them, so they can now compete against the "big" teams, and don't have to worry about being supplanted by smaller teams below them. Odd how that works! -An Economistacem8201-01-2025
- You can't push beyond your limit, even if you're MVDP.Renz01-01-2025
- it’s going to be interesting to see what goals and challenges will continue to inspire van der poel as a road racer. he’s a guy who can’t stand being bored. i mentioned in a comment some weeks ago that it kinda seems like he’s interested in becoming a better climber, experimenting with shedding body mass to see what might be possible. personally, i’ve always wished he would get passionate about TTs. he can obviously sustain massive watts for extended periods, and he has an almost singular ability to push beyond his limit and empty his tank to a stunning degree. additionally, he’s got a beautiful, naturally aero position when he’s on a road bike. on the rare occasions he’s felt like really making an effort — in yellow at the tour and pink at the giro — he finished 5th and 2nd, respectively. and he apparently NEVER practices that discipline, like EVER.OCexile01-01-2025
- The late 90’s is when Lance was winning . Greg must have meant late ?JtotheB01-01-2025
- If we put logic aside, we could envision Roglic in yellow in Paris, leading out Jordi Meeus for the final sprint.Ride197401-01-2025