Veteran battle for the podium as Van der Haar and Meeusen have a photofinish sprint in Lille
Cyclocross
As Toon Aerts flew into a big win the Lille Krawatencross behind a more exciting finale took place, as Lars van der Haar and Tom Meeusen wrapped of their day in dramatic fashion.
The 7th round of the X20 Trofee was marked by the complicated weather conditions which made the technical track in Lille even more complicated than the normal. Aerts went solo early on and won the race, and behind as several riders cracked, two veterans in Lars van der Haar and Tom Meeusen came to the fore and ended up having a head-to-head sprint all the way to the line for the last podium spot.
Van der Haar, 31, has had a stellar season after getting back to what is a great period of form that reminisce of his golden years in which he won the world cup back in the 2013-2014 season and has racked up his 14th podium of the season, which includes wins at the National and European championships aswell as a runner-up spot at the World championships.
The European champion said after the finish: "Yeah I'm very surprised [with the podium] as Michael [Vanthourenhout] would've normally been there, but yeah when the chances are there you have to go for it and I did."
"I didn't wanna go from the front because I knew it was difficult with Meeusen, but he went and I felt I could beat him. But then I went out of my pedal, but quickly got it back and started sprinting again, I saw he was dropping a lot of speed and I got him with a big jump," Van der Haar said regarding the sprint.
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Meeusen, 34, is past the prime of his career but the passion remains and days like today show that the legs are still capable of some very impressive results. His last podium was at the C2 GP Leuven back in November. He has been on the Elite ranks since 2010 and in the last few years he hasn't been able to achieve the same results that he used to on his pre-2018 results, but he will take great motivation from this performance, which consolidated his 4th place in the X2O Trofee.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
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They might be two of the older statesmen of the pro CX circuit but that didn't stop @TomMeeusen 🇧🇪 and @larsvanderhaar 🇳🇱 from putting it all on the line (quite literally) in the sprint for third 🥉 at the #Krawatencross in Lille!
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