Mathieu Van der Poel sent a stark warning to his cyclocross rivals that he is not yet at his ‘top level’ despite putting in a dominant display to win the World Cup round at Hulst.
The 27-year-old crashed several times on the slippery Hulst course before forcing his way to the front and riding away for victory.
Van der Poel capitalised on a mistake by world champion Tom Pidcock to force a slender advantage after the midway point and maintained his gap of 12 seconds into the final lap. The Dutch star twice slipped into the course tape, but he kept his lead to take a clear win.
Van der Poel, who has only recently returned to cyclocross training, warned his rivals that he has more to come once his technical skills have improved.
“I’m really happy with my shape. Technically, I made a lot of mistakes but it’s normal,” Van der Poel said after taking victory by 15 seconds.
“I’m just happy to be back, but there’s still some work to do to be at my top level. I can only be really happy with today.
“I need a few more cyclocross races, my shape is really good, I had a good preparation in Spain but I need some more specific training on the ’cross bike. I hope during the December period to be at my top level.”
The four-time elite cyclocross world champion only raced twice last winter after suffering back issues that forced him to end his campaign early. After finishing second to Belgian rival Wout Van Aert at Dendermonde, he abandoned at Heusden-Zolder, ending the cyclocross season without a win.
Van der Poel’s last cyclocross victory came almost 22 months ago at the world championship in Oostende, but the familiar sight of the Dutchman winning a cyclocross race returned at Hulst.
“It feels pretty good,” said Van der Poel after taking his 146th elite cyclocross victory. “It’s been a long while since I’ve won a cyclocross race. Last year was not a good season, I can’t event call it a season because I did one-and-a-half cyclocross races due to my back issues. For me in cyclocross it’s been a really long time.”
Van der Poel’s closest challenger was Pidcock until he suffered a disastrous final lap, with his back wheel bending in half as he slid before crashing into a course marker and quitting the race.
That allowed Laurens Sweeck (Crelan - Fristads) to finish second 15 seconds behind Van der Poel, who had relaxed to enjoy his victory.
Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) matched Van der Poel’s fastest lap time of 7:59 to snatch third from Lars Van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions).
“It was different, but good for us that they [Van Der Poel and Pidcock] didn’t get a really big gap in the beginning,” said Iserbyt.
“When I saw Mathieu passing me on the first lap, I thought he was going to ride away all the way for a one-minute lead. I’m really happy that to be in 22 seconds (behind) I guess. My last two laps were really good so I hope to improve a lot for next week.”
Next week sees the return of Wout Van Aert who will compete against Van Der Poel and Pidock for the first time this season at the World Cup in Antwerp.
Van Der Poel will then go away for a road training camp before returning for the Val di Sole World Cup and then the Christmas cyclocross calender, when he will meet Van Aert on several occasions.
