Toon Aerts Topples Favorites, Conquers Cobbles at Koppenbergcross – Updated: Photo Gallery

There's something about the hilly, cobbled classic of Koppenbergcross that challenges the favorites and, at times, favors the challengers.

Sure, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon Circus) overcame a disappointing 2016 showing to win in 2017, but the long, cobbled climb turns the race into more than just a display of pure power or bike handling skills.

Early on, three-time winner Wout van Aert (Cibel-Cebon Offroad) looked to put his stamp on the race and show he was ready to overcome Van der Poel's dominance this season. Could he add a fourth cobblestone trophy to his case? Van Aert followed Toon Aerts' (Telenet Fidea) sprint up the Koppenberg on lap one, and much to his surprise, saw his nemesis Van der Poel far back.

Halfway into lap one, Aerts, Van Aert, Quinten Hermans (Telenet Fidea), Daan Soete (Pauwels Sauzen) were not waiting for the Dutch star to join the front, while Marcel Meisen was left wondering why he was the lead rider on the Corendon Circus team, with his team leader trailing, sitting outside the top ten.

Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux Bingoal) and Eli Iserbyt accelerated to join the lead group paceline, while Van der Poel slowly picked off riders.

Fans waited for the inevitable. Perhaps today it would be only delayed a lap? Van der Poel was coming, and had the leaders in sight the second time up the cobbled ascent.

Semi-rideable climbs tend to be Van der Poel's strength, but on lap two, a short, steep riser saw him falter, dab and drop his bike. The bobble cost him seconds, but seem to deflate his motivation. With two laps down, Van der Poel was 20 seconds down.

At the front, the deflating moment for Van der Poel put wind in Van Aert's sails. The World Champ hammered away to ensure his rival wouldn't rejoin the leaders. Aerts and Vanthourenhout hung on, while the rest were left inhaling dust from the Belgian trio and relatively dry conditions.

Van der Poel put in one more hard lap giving chase, but after three laps, the gap was the same, and just as he did in 2016, he would shut it down and fall far back.

The final trio was set, and with one to go, Aerts put his companions on the defensive, attacking the penultimate Koppenberg climb, drawing out Van Aert and gapping Vanthourenhout. Did Van Aert have enough left after his early attacks for one more effort?

Aerts made sure Van Aert was done, leaving him in his all-t00-familiar second position, with Vanthourenhout threatening a further downgrade.

On the final ascent, Aerts bounced up the cobbles to victory before collapsing, adding to his already-impressive two World Cup-winning season, while Vanthourenhout overtook Van Aert for second.

Van der Poel would finish 21st.

Full results and photo gallery below.

2018 DVV Trofee Koppenbergcross Results: Elite Men

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Team	Age	Result
1	3	AERTS	Toon	BEL	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	25	1:02:26
2	5	VANTHOURENHOUT	Michael	BEL	MARLUX - BINGOAL	25	1:02:37
3	1	VAN AERT	Wout	BEL		24	1:02:40
4	6	VAN DER HAAR	Lars	NED	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	27	1:03:24
5	10	HERMANS	Quinten	BEL	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	23	1:03:44
6	4	SWEECK	Laurens	BEL	PAUWELS SAUZEN - VASTGOEDSERVICE	25	1:03:51
7	13	ISERBYT	Eli	BEL	MARLUX - BINGOAL	21	1:04:04
8	14	PAUWELS	Kevin	BEL	MARLUX - BINGOAL	34	1:04:18
9	16	ADAMS	Jens	BEL	PAUWELS SAUZEN - VASTGOEDSERVICE	26	1:04:26
10	9	SOETE	Daan	BEL	PAUWELS SAUZEN - VASTGOEDSERVICE	24	1:04:58
11	12	MEISEN	Marcel	GER	CORENDON - CIRCUS	29	1:05:02
12	17	MEEUSEN	Tom	BEL	CORENDON - CIRCUS	30	1:05:03
13	27	NIEUWENHUIS	Joris	NED		22	1:05:08
14	7	VAN KESSEL	Corne	NED	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	27	1:05:12
15	21	AERNOUTS	Jim	BEL	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	29	1:05:19
16	26	MERLIER	Braam	BEL	CREAFIN TÜV SUD	24	1:05:27
17	24	VANTHOURENHOUT	Dieter	BEL	MARLUX - BINGOAL	33	1:05:33
18	15	BOROŠ	Michael	CZE	CREAFIN TÜV SUD	26	1:05:38
19	31	WOUTERS	Sieben	NED	CREAFIN TÜV SUD	22	1:05:47
20	8	MERLIER	Tim	BEL	CRELAN - CHARLES	26	1:05:50
21	2	VAN DER POEL	Mathieu	NED	CORENDON - CIRCUS	23	1:06:38
22	42	FIELD	Ian	GBR		32	1:07:12
23	19	AERTS	Thijs	BEL	TELENET FIDEA LIONS	22	1:08:02
24	43	HENNAUX	Loic	BEL		22	1:09:14
25	29	JOSEPH	Thomas	BEL	MARLUX - BINGOAL	22	1:09:17
26	30	PEETERS	Yannick	BEL	PAUWELS SAUZEN - VASTGOEDSERVICE	22	1:09:57
27	44	JANSSON	Henrik	SWE		23	1:10:21
28	37	DE BOCK	Yoni	BEL		22	1:10:45
29	48	VANKEIRSBILCK	Berne	BEL		24	1:11:56
30	41	ERIKSSON	Martin	SWE		26	-2 LAPS
31	36	DE BOCK	Jelle	BEL		25	-2 LAPS
32	47	MUNDY	Isaac	GBR		24	-2 LAPS
33	35	DE WIT	Edwin	BEL		35	-3 LAPS
34	38	KOYEN	Niels	BEL		27	-3 LAPS
35	50	TAKENOUCHI	Yu	JPN		30	-3 LAPS
36	46	MADGWICK	James	GBR		22	-4 LAPS
37	49	WARDELL	Robert	GBR		33	-4 LAPS
38	39	MEELBERGHS	Pieter	BEL		30	-4 LAPS
39	51	CHASTAGNER	Francois	FRA		23	-5 LAPS
	40	ERIKSSON	David	SWE		23	DNF
	45	KAISE	Julien	BEL		23	DNF
	52	VAN LERBERGHE	Bert	BEL		26	DNF

2018 Koppenbergcross Photo Gallery - Elite Men: