Van der Poel Forces Rival’s Mistake, Zooms to World Cup Zolder Win – Report, Results, Photos

On Sunday at World Cup Namur, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus) took over the lead for good when he made an impressive pass of Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions) at the exit to the rutted off-camber. Aerts had a clean look at the feature, but Van der Poel was just that much better.

At Wednesday’s annual Boxing Day race at World Cup Heusden-Zolder, Van der Poel did not use a dazzling move to emphatically take the lead, but his skill did force Aerts into a mistake that gave the Dutch star all the space he needed to win.

Two laps into the fast race on a chilly afternoon, a lead group of six whittled down to Aerts, Van der Poel and Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux – Bingoal). Fifteen minutes in, Van der Poel was content to let the fast starters and his companions in the lead group do the work at the front.

That changed in Lap 3 after the uphill off-camber when Van der Poel moved to the front to get a clean look at the technical series of ups and downs. His unrivaled technical prowess shifted the pressure to Aerts and Vanthourenhout to follow his wheel.

The pressure proved too much for Aerts when the World Cup leader hesitated and then dismounted at the top of one of the steep ascents. His mistake gave Van der Poel an advantage that he stretched to eight seconds at the end of the lap.

Give Van der Poel eight seconds on a cyclocross course, and more often than not he will ride it to a win. He did so on Wednesday at the Circuit Zolder to stay perfect in the five World Cups he has started this season.

Circuit Zolder Speed

After a wet, muddy affair at Namur, temperatures in Heusden-Zolder dropped into the 30s, making the course frozen in spots and fast.

Wout van Aert (Cibel – Cebon Offroad Team) bounced back from his missed pedal at Namur to get off to a fast start on the long start straight on the Circuit Zolder tarmac. Quinten Hermans (Telenet Fidea Lions) pulled around Van Aert at the end of the straight to take the lead out onto the course, and the two Belgians continued their charge out into the open, flowy first half of the circuit.

Hermans and Van Aert stayed off the front until Van Aert started to drop back midway through Lap 1 with what appeared to be a flat tire. Fortunately, Pit 2 was close so he did not lose too much time, but the defending World Champion was still chasing 14 seconds after one lap behind Aerts, Vanthourenhout, Van der Poel, Hermans, Joris Nieuwenhuis (Team Sunweb) and Tim Merlier (Crelan – Charles).

The lead six stayed together for much of the second lap, while Van Aert and five others gave chase about 10 seconds back. The technical section at the end of the lap helped break the lead group up, and two laps into the nine-lap race, Aerts, Vanthourenhout and Van der Poel were off the front with a five-second advantage. Van Aert sat nine seconds back, which seemed like a lot thanks to the afternoon’s fast racing speeds.

Two and a half laps into the race, Van der Poel had been content to let others push the pace at the front. After Hermans led early, he let Aerts and Vanthourenhout drive a pace that kept the chasers from making contact.

That changed in the third lap. And when Van der Poel goes to the front, you have to be near perfect to keep his wheel.

After the uphill off-camber, Van der Poel got out of the saddle and accelerated to the front to take the lead into the first drop. He stayed on the attack, keeping up a blistering pace through the ups and downs.

On one of the inclines, Van der Poel’s pressure was too much for Aerts. The Belgian put his foot down near the crest of an incline and then had to dismount, in the process holding up Vanthourenhout.

It was not as jaw-dropping as Van der Poel’s Namur move, but his forcing a mistake by Aerts was equally effective. Three laps in, Van der Poel had an eight-second advantage on Aerts and Vanthourenhout.

Early in Lap 4, Van der Poel’s advantage grew while Vanthourenhout dropped Aerts to take solo second. Heading into the second half of the race, Van der Poel led Vanthourenhout by 13 seconds, who in turn led Aerts, Van Aert, Nieuwenhuis and Hermans by just as much.

Double Dutch Podium

Vanthourenhout entered Lap 5 with dreams of his third World Cup podium of the season. However, the number five was not kind to him Wednesday afternoon.

Still in second, Vanthourenhout slipped out on the same corner Brand did in the Elite Women’s race. He recovered and still held solo second, but when he got to the entrance to the Zolder Woods, his chain and derailleur got jammed up.

He stopped at the same place Vos did when she had her Lap 4 mechanical, but for Vanthourenhout, there would be no big last-lap win.

As Vanthourenhout ran to the pit, Van Aert, Aerts, Nieuwenhuis and Hermans passed him to become the chase. Vanthourenhout’s mechanical in turn gave Van der Poel a 31-second lead.

The last third of the race was the latest Van der Poel coronation. With the victory, he stayed perfect in the five World Cup races he has started this season. The win was also number 18 for the 2018/19 campaign.

In the sixth lap, Nieuwenhuis put in an effort through the technical section and Van Aert followed, dropping the others in the chase. The two carried a small advantage into the last third of the race. In Lap 7, Van Aert then broke away to take over solo second. He kept the spot to take second for the 14th time this season.

Nieuwenhuis held onto third to finish on his first Elite World Cup podium.

Stephen Hyde (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) finished 17th, Michael van den Ham (Garneau – Easton p/b Transitions LifeCare) 41st, Curtis White (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) 43rd, Kerry Werner (Kona Maxxis Shimano) 47th, Cody Kaiser (LangeTwins / Specialized) 49th, Garry Millburn 53rd, Cameron Jette 56th, Tyler Cloutier (Garneau – Easton p/b Transitions LifeCare) 63rd and Max Judelson (Voler/Clif/HRS/Rock Lobster) was a DNF.

Zdeněk Štybar (Quick-Step Floors) made his return to cyclocross at Zolder and was a fan favorite during his 21st-place ride.

Full results are below.

Elite Men Results: 2018 World Cup Heusden-Zolder

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Result
1	19	VAN DER POEL	Mathieu	NED	1:02:49
2	1	VAN AERT	Wout	BEL	1:03:05
3	23	NIEUWENHUIS	Joris	NED	1:03:18
4	2	AERTS	Toon	BEL	1:03:24
5	3	SWEECK	Laurens	BEL	1:03:24
6	5	HERMANS	Quinten	BEL	1:03:44
7	22	VAN DER POEL	David	NED	1:03:52
8	20	VAN DER HAAR	Lars	NED	1:03:56
9	21	VAN KESSEL	Corne	NED	1:03:59
10	7	SOETE	Daan	BEL	1:04:06
11	6	MERLIER	Tim	BEL	1:04:32
12	11	VERMEERSCH	Gianni	BEL	1:04:33
13	4	VANTHOURENHOUT	Michael	BEL	1:04:41
14	59	MEISEN	Marcel	GER	1:04:57
15	8	PAUWELS	Kevin	BEL	1:05:04
16	9	AERTS	Thijs	BEL	1:05:11
17	54	HYDE	Stephen	USA	1:05:12
18	16	ADAMS	Jens	BEL	1:05:26
19	10	MEEUSEN	Tom	BEL	1:05:31
20	42	BOROŠ	Michael	CZE	1:05:32
21	46	ŠTYBAR	Zden?k	CZE	1:05:37
22	60	WEBER	Sascha	GER	1:05:37
23	13	SWEECK	Diether	BEL	1:05:59
24	15	CLEPPE	Nicolas	BEL	1:06:01
25	12	AERNOUTS	Jim	BEL	1:06:03
26	30	CANAL	Fabien	FRA	1:06:08
27	24	WOUTERS	Sieben	NED	1:06:08
28	49	SUAREZ FERNANDEZ	Kevin	ESP	1:06:09
29	25	GODRIE	Stan	NED	1:06:09
30	31	MENUT	David	FRA	1:06:35
31	47	ESTEBAN AGUERO	Ismael	ESP	1:06:38
32	41	RÜEGG	Timon	SUI	1:06:41
33	39	ZAHNER	Simon	SUI	1:06:47
34	43	NESVADBA	Jan	CZE	1:07:18
35	17	MERLIER	Braam	BEL	1:07:26
36	33	DUBAU	Joshua	FRA	1:07:27
37	14	BAESTAENS	Vincent	BEL	1:07:36
38	40	SÄGESSER	Severin	SUI	1:07:44
39	29	BOULO	Matthieu	FRA	1:07:45
40	50	RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBAÑEZ	Javier	ESP	1:07:48
41	68	VAN DEN HAM	Michael	CAN	1:07:48
42	34	DUBAU	Lucas	FRA	1:08:06
43	53	WHITE	Curtis	USA	1:08:17
44	26	VAN DER MEER	Gosse	NED	1:08:56
45	72	HANSEN	Kenneth	DEN	1:09:07
46	38	TRIGO	Florian	FRA	1:09:09
47	55	WERNER	Kerry	USA	1:09:42
48	67	GLAJZA	Ondrej	SVK	LAP
49	56	KAISER	Cody	USA	LAP
50	44	PAPRSTKA	Tomáš	CZE	LAP
51	75	ERIKSSON	David	SWE	LAP
52	51	ANIA GONZALEZ	Daniel	ESP	LAP
53	71	MILLBURN	Garry	AUS	LAP
54	65	THILTGES	Scott	LUX	LAP
55	64	DIAS DOS SANTOS	Vincent	LUX	LAP
56	69	JETTE	Cameron	CAN	LAP
57	70	TAKENOUCHI	Yu	JPN	LAP
58	61	HÄHNEL	Frederik	GER	LAP
59	74	JANSSON	Henrik	SWE	LAP
60	66	TURCHI	Luc	LUX	LAP
61	76	HEIGL	Philipp	AUT	LAP
62	73	ERIKSSON	Martin	SWE	LAP
63	57	CLOUTIER	Tyler	USA	LAP
64	63	EDHOFER	Thomas	GER	LAP
DNF	18	VANTHOURENHOUT	Dieter	BEL
DNF	48	ORTS LLORET	Felipe	ESP
DNF	58	JUDELSON	Max	USA
DNF	52	JUNQUERA SAN MILLAN	Luis	ESP
DNS	62	SCHMIDT	Marvin	GER