"You want to see fight and excitement" - Niels Albert disappointed by predictability of Cyclocross World Championships

As was widely predicted pre-race, Mathieu van der Poel stormed to a dominant victory at the Cyclocross World Championships last weekend.

For former two-time World Champion, turned analyst, Niels Albert, the lack of competition for the Dutchman took something away from the excitement of the race. "I think Mathieu was like: we are going to wrap this up early, so to speak. If you ask him which six world titles he has enjoyed the most, this one is going to be maybe the sixth," the 38-year-old Belgian reviews on the Lambert & Albert podcast.

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"I had the impression it was not the best Mathieu. With a good course, he should have been two minutes away," Albert continues, referencing the fact that van der Poel took victory from Joris Nieuwenhuis by 'only' 37 seconds in Tabor.

"It was also a real Wout van Aert course, with Tom Pidcock there we could have seen a nice duel," Albert details. "As a cyclocross fan, you really look forward to it, you want to see fight and excitement. I've seen a nice World Championship, but no excitement."

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Katy Madgwick

@writebikerepeat

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In the least surprising news of the weekend, MATHIEU VAN DER POEL IS CYCLOCROSS WORLD CHAMPION 🙌🥇🌈🇳🇱 #Tabor2024

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