Van der Poel Gets Back on Track With Impressive Win at World Cup Koksijde – Report, Results

by Ted Burns

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) took his third World Cup win of the season at Koksijde on Sunday, showing few effects of a hard crash on Saturday at the Superprestige Niels Albert in Boom.

Van der Poel showed up at the start with his right upper body covered in tape and proceeded to ride an aggressive and unforgiving race.

“It was something I was looking forward to,” Van der Poel said. “The previous year the race was canceled, and I really like sand courses, so it was so much fun to ride out here and take the win today.”

The Windy Dunes of Koksijde

Overnight rain toughened up the sand, and at race time blustery southern winds made riding tough going, with headwinds blowing straight down the opening stretch of the start.

Andrew Juiliano (GRIT World Racing), one of two American’s in Sunday’s race, described the challenges of riding the famed dunes of Koksijde.

“It’s not just the power, it’s laying down the power while balancing in the ruts and awkward climbs through the sand,” Juiliano said. “Line choice and fitness is just as crucial pedaling hard. It’s relentless with the dunes there. Just one hard slogging sandpit or climb or squirrely descent after the other. The only rest was the start straight, into a headwind.”

No Messing Around for Van der Poel

Van der Poel took the holeshot, and it was apparent that only Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) would be able to challenge the Dutch prodigy. Van der Poel continuously opened up small gaps on Van Aert in the sand sections, forcing the Belgian to keep hitting the gas to maintain contact.

Van der Poel’s skill on the bike was on full display as he exhibited a magical ability to find lines through the sand.

“I started ahead of the bunch, and I knew it was the best way to be at the front because you can do your own thing and ride your own lines,” Van der Poel said. “But it’s a little bit difficult because you are always getting in the sand first and all the traces are gone then.”

Van der Poel eased up in the last lap and easily won by 39 seconds.

Opportunities Given and Opportunities Taken

Halfway through the race, Van Aert fell back to the chase group which included Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions) and Laurens Sweeck (ERA-Circus), and the trio began the battle for second place, as Van der Poel increased his lead with faster and faster lap times.

Van Aert appeared to be content to ride with Van der Haar and Sweeck for several laps until two laps to go when the World Champion pulled away from his companions.

Then Van Aert’s luck started to go south.

Van Aert bobbled at the top of one dune, which allowed Sweeck an opportunity to get by him. Van Aert closed the gap and caught Sweeck, but then as he rode by the pit area, Van Aert looked down at his bike, turned around, and entered the pit for another bike losing valuable time to both Van der Haar and Sweeck.

Sensing an opportunity in the bell lap, Van der Haar attacked Sweeck, who could not hold the Telenet Fidea Lion’s pace.

Van der Haar held on for second place while Van Aert chased down Sweeck to finish third.

Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles – Ridley RT) of Great Britain finished 31st, Jeremy Durrin (Neon Velo Racing) 45th and Juiliano 46th.

Men's Results - 2017 Koksijde World Cup

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Time
1	20	VAN DER POEL	Mathieu	NED	1:02:41
2	22	VAN DER HAAR	Lars	NED	1:03:20
3	1	VAN AERT	Wout	BEL	1:03:31
4	4	SWEECK	Laurens	BEL	1:03:56
5	23	VAN DER POEL	David	NED	1:04:10
6	10	SOETE	Daan	BEL	1:04:11
7	7	HERMANS	Quinten	BEL	1:04:28
8	6	VANTHOURENHOUT	Michael	BEL	1:04:41
9	12	BAESTAENS	Vincent	BEL	1:04:53
10	11	ADAMS	Jens	BEL	1:04:59
11	2	AERTS	Toon	BEL	1:05:08
12	3	PAUWELS	Kevin	BEL	1:05:17
13	19	VANTHOURENHOUT	Dieter	BEL	1:05:54
14	21	VAN KESSEL	Corne	NED	1:06:15
15	50	WALSLEBEN	Philipp	GER	1:06:28
16	16	SWEECK	Diether	BEL	1:06:28
17	9	VERMEERSCH	Gianni	BEL	1:06:29
18	15	BOSMANS	Wietse	BEL	1:06:32
19	14	VANTORNOUT	Klaas	BEL	1:06:51
20	5	MEEUSEN	Tom	BEL	1:06:59
21	17	VAN TICHELT	Yorben	BEL	1:07:20
22	8	MERLIER	Tim	BEL	1:07:28
23	13	AERNOUTS	Jim	BEL	1:07:32
24	36	CHAINEL	Steve	FRA	1:07:37
25	49	MEISEN	Marcel	GER	1:08:07
26	18	CLEPPE	Nicolas	BEL	1:08:16
27	26	VAN DEN BRAND	Twan	NED	1:08:25
28	30	ZAHNER	Simon	SUI	1:08:27
29	32	BOROŠ	Michael	CZE	1:08:27
30	45	SUAREZ FERNANDEZ	Kevin	ESP	1:08:38
31	52	FIELD	Ian	GBR	1:08:56
32	43	ORTS LLORET	Felipe	ESP	1:09:04
33	39	CANAL	Fabien	FRA	1:09:14
34	27	VAN DER MEER	Gosse	NED	1:09:22
35	46	BERTOLINI	Gioele	ITA	1:09:25
36	44	RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBA?EZ	Javier	ESP	1:09:28
37	24	GODRIE	Stan	NED	1:10:01
38	37	BOULO	Matthieu	FRA	LAP
39	38	FALENTA	Alois	FRA	LAP
40	31	S?GESSER	Severin	SUI	LAP
41	25	VAN AMERONGEN	Thijs	NED	LAP
42	48	SAMPARISI	Nicolas	ITA	LAP
43	40	DIDIER	Anthonin	FRA	LAP
44	47	SAMPARISI	Lorenzo	ITA	LAP
45	41	DURRIN	Jeremy	USA	LAP
46	42	JUILIANO	Andrew	USA	LAP
47	53	KINNING	Glenn	IRL	LAP
48	54	TAKENOUCHI	Yu	JPN	LAP
49	51	MAYER	Yannick	GER	LAP