“Winning is not easy. There are some really good young guys" - First World Cup victory since November 2021 'very important' for Lars van der Haar in Maasmechelen

Lars van der Haar was in imperious form in Maasmechelen at the latest round of UCI World Cup action. The Dutchman took a very impressive solo win to secure his first World Cup victory in nearly two years.

“This is a very important victory for me. Winning is not easy. There are some really good young guys. Today I was able to benefit from my teammates,” van der Haar recapped in his post-race interview. “It was very tough, but fortunately it was only very tough from the sand strip to the finish. You couldn't make up much time in the rest of the lap. It was really focusing on the tough part and not making any mistakes for the rest. But I got a flat tire with two laps to go, so I thought it was over. But luckily it wasn't too far to the exchange point.”

For the first half of the race, van der Haar was alongside Eli Iserbyt and Thibau Nys in fierce competition but as the Dutch national champion began to press hard, mistakes from Iserbyt and Nys saw van der Haar extend his advantage to an eventual race-winning position. After much criticism last year, the Maasmechelen course was also much improved.

“It remains tricky, but there are slightly fewer stones, it is slightly less dangerous. The round was better in that respect. It's just very difficult to catch up. You're driving at a bit of maximum speed on this lap, so it's difficult to make a difference. But that also has an advantage if you are in the lead," he concludes, casting an eye towards next week's European Championship. “I don't know if that round will suit me perfectly, but of course I'm aiming for a championship. You always want to be good there. I think it's working out pretty well.”