Mathieu van der Poel flew through the Herentals race, marking quite a strong comeback. He was unmatched this afternoon and showed off the form he built throughout the past few weeks in training.
“I quickly found myself alone. I immediately had a nice lead. After that it was quite a long hour alone. I felt quite strong and knew that the 'Ski Mountain' was the most difficult point of the circuit. And I felt good, so I immediately got into the right rhythm," he tells Wielerflits in a post-race interview. "I quickly chose my own pace. Was it boring to ride alone for an hour? Certainly not, I enjoyed it." It was almost like a training ride for the World Champion who was in the race lead since the first moments and never let it go. Within a few minutes of racing he dropped the competition and was never to be seen again.
"There was only one moment of inattention, when I hit the ground. But other than that it was nice to be back," he says. A small crash didn't hamper his chances of taking the win. "I like to do that: ride at my own pace, choose my own lines. So it was fun. I have trained for a long time to get back there and it is nice to get confirmation right away.”
Alpecin-Deceuninck manager Christoph Roodhoft had hinted on how strong the Dutchman looked in a recent training camp and van der Poel confirmed that this was not just an impression. “...I suffer hard enough during the training. So I just do my thing in the races. It will certainly not be like this every race, so we will probably have some exciting races in the Christmas period, I think.” Whilst Tom Pidcock came second today, he was hardly any competition for van der Poel, and Wout van Aert's form also did not look as sharp as the World Champion.
Perhaps too good form, six weeks before Tabor? “That's always difficult to say. I feel very good and have a good base, but the intensity can certainly be improved. Only by the World Championships should I be at 200 percent, as I did last year.”
It was a good day today. In Herentals, home of our team, @mathieuvdpoel crowned his return to cyclocross with a solid win. But Niels Vandeputte, @GVermeersch and @Quintenhermans also finished in the top ten. @ToonVandebosch fell just outside. Great job, guys! #alpecindeceuninck
