The Dutchman’s back-to-back wins
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) took another win after his Gullegem triumph from last week. He dominated the race and beat World Cup leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) by 1:31. Tom Pidcock finished a further 18 seconds back.
“It’s almost a home win,” Van der Poel said after the race. “There are very few races in the Netherlands so it’s super nice to have one here today. I enjoyed the race and had some really good legs today so that helps.”
Van der Poel put on a commanding performance, he attacked on the second lap with no one being able to respond. Then he steadily increased his advantage to a 3-minute lead at one point.
“If you see last week, I was almost three minutes behind Van Aert so I don’t think it means anything. It’s the shape of the day which determines the gaps a little bit. I felt really strong today and I’m glad I can finish my first block of races in this kind of shape.”
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup – Hulst 2021 results
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) – 1:05:27
2. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) + 1:31
3. Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing) + 1:49
4. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) + 2:41
5. Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions) + 3:07
6. Lars van der Haar (Telenet Baloise Lions) + 3:19
7. Quinten Hermans (Tormans) + 3:32
8. Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) + 3:37
9. Ryan Kamp (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) + 4:12
10. Corne Van Kessel (Tormans) + 4:46
Chris Froome debuts
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJgxVI7HbzV/?utm_source=ig_embed
Marianne Vos debuts
A whole lot of debuts
New year, new challenge
See you out there!
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