After Matthew van der Poel, Wout van Aert also skips the World Cyclocross Championship | Cycling

The Belgian confirmed this after the cross at the Herentals. On Sunday, the Belgian championship will be his last cross of the season.

It was announced on Wednesday morning that Mathieu van der Poel is ending the cyclocross season and therefore will not defend his world title. “Will his decision change my choice for the World Cup? No,” Van Aert said before the start of the tournament at Herentals.

Van Aert did not want to talk about it before the cross, but then confirmed that he was definitely suitable for the World Cup. Instead, Van Aert will focus on the start of the road season.

“It’s hard to miss a race as beautiful as the World Cup, but I now have four more weeks to prepare for the road season,” Van Aert said.

For the first time since 2014 (Zdenek Stybar), the World Cyclo-cross Championship will have a different winner than Van der Poel or Van Aert. The Dutchman was the best in 2015 and three times thereafter from 2019. In between, Van Aert won his three world titles. “It was always the intention not to go to the World Cup,” Van Aert explained. We stick to the plan. That hard now I’m riding really well.” Van Aert has started in nine races this winter and won all but one. On Sunday, physical issues prevented him from also winning the Hulst World Cup.

Van Aert has stated that it’s not just the trip to the United States that stops him from searching for his fourth world title. “Crossing is first love, but I want to be good on the road in the spring. We think it will be difficult to do both. After the Belgian championship on Sunday, you will be mentally occupied with the show for three weeks, while you still have to deal with jet lag for a while. after that “.

Without bad luck, cyclocross rider Van Aert is the best again

Van Aert won his fifth cyclocross for the X2O Cup. The Belgian from Jumbo-Visma was by far the strongest of the Herentals and reached the finish by more than a minute over Britain’s Tom Bidcock. Belgium’s Ton Aerts, the time leader, came third.

Van Aert saw seven of his seven out of seven winning streak end in Holst’s World Cup cross on Sunday due to a physical failure. Van Aert is ineligible for classification because he missed the first two matches.

The first Dutchman to become European champion Lars van der Haar: 5th.

Lucinda Brand continues to win

Lucinda Brand won the fifth cross in the X2O Cup. The Louis Trek Lions cyclo-cross world champion was once again clearly the strongest of the Herentals and scored her 16th victory of the season.

Denis Betsima finished second, 49 seconds behind the winner. With the bonus of the fastest lap, the Texel cyclo-cross racer was able to stay on top of the standings. The difference with the brand decreased from 46 to two seconds. There are three more crosses in this competition.

Annemarie Worst finished third in the Herentals. Manon Packer was sixth with a good distance, followed by Celine del Carmen Alvarado. The former world champion is going through a mixed season and had physical problems early on at the Herentals, which meant she had to walk quite a bit and lost contact at the front.

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The brand has nothing to do with it. Soon she joined Betsema who started quickly and then left her rival behind. “I didn’t think I could turn the switch so easily. I thought beforehand: ‘It’s going to be a mentally tough day,'” said Rotterdam-based club Sporza. “I wasn’t good at first, but I managed to limit the damage.”

Betsima was disappointed as she lost some extra time on the last lap due to a punctured tyre. “The difference was pretty big anyway,” said the Texel woman, before returning to the island. The national title fight awaits in Rucphen on Sunday, where she will meet Brand again.