Van Aert wins 'big three' sprint against Van der Poel and Pidcock in Loenhout

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Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won a three-man sprint to secure his fifth win of the season at Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross on Friday. The Belgian Champion started his sprint from the third position and blasted across the finish line to take the victory ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

Van der Poel appeared to have the upper hand in the three-way battle near the end of the race, but a minor slip in the mud cost him the slim lead that he had forged for himself, allowing Van Aert and Pidcock to regain contact. 

It all came down to the final half-a-lap as the three riders regrouped following a string of searing attacks, but as Van der Poel led the trio onto the finish-straight pavement, Van Aert launched his winning sprint inside the final hundred metres, leaving Van der Poel to settle for second and Pidcock third.

"It was a difficult course. Mathieu performed better on the technical sections today, but I could not make it difficult for the other two. I was happy all along that I could keep up. To be honest, I believed Mathieu took off on the final lap. But he made a mistake that allowed me to come back, so I had to work to get myself together before the sprint," Van Aert said.

"The plan was to be a few metres behind Tom so I could sprint from his slipstream. That worked out well. It's really insane. I didn't expect this when I started this part of the season. The legs and my morale are good. Then, occasionally, things go a bit easier."

Speaking to Sporza, Mathieu van der Poel described his final lap. "In the last lap I made a good attack. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the pits, where there were very deep tracks. That costs me my lead and the victory. Wout was the strongest in the sprint.

"I think I had a gap big enough to win. But staying clear is also part of the cross," Van der Poel added, "I'm missing the last per cent to do that."

How it unfolded

Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross marked the last cyclocross race of the 2022 season, held on a largely flat, rain-soaked, and muddy course in the province of Antwerp.

Van der Poel opened the race with a strong start, and it wasn't long before the 'big three' - Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock - were alone off the front. In the opening laps, the trio put on a spectacle for the hundreds of fans out to watch the racing.

Van Aert attacked on the fourth lap, but Van der Poel quickly followed as Pidcock appeared to struggle to hang on to the quick pace. The front continually reshuffled, however, with Van der Poel the next to take lead while Van Aert and Pidcock reconnected in the chase.

Van der Poel pushed on at the front and appeared to be gaining valuable time on his two rivals, but Pidcock single-handedly shut the gap down along the headwind stretch through the finish line straight, with Van Aert on his wheel. The trio started the fifth lap (of eight) together.

Van Aert almost immediately attacked, but he wasn't able to shake Van der Poel or Pidcock. The three riders matched each other's strengths, and they appeared to wait for any costly mistakes from one another and opportunities to try and gain time.

Pidcock lost a few metres when he was forced off his bike to run through the mud as Van Aert and Van der Poel rode away. As the two leaders eased up, however, the World Champion managed to pull them back on the sixth lap.

They had only briefly regrouped when Van der Poel made another move, opening a small gap that forced Van Aert to close. Pidcock appeared to struggle with the relentless attacking and fell off the pace.

The race for the win appeared to be between Van der Poel and Van Aert, with two laps to go, as they pushed their lead out to eight seconds. Pidcock tried desperately to close down the gap in the third position, determined to keep the pressure on.

Pidcock just managed to latch back onto the two front riders and raced straight through to the front, resetting the race against the trio on the last lap. 

It was an all-out lap as Van Aert and Van der Poel took turns attacking, but a last-ditch effort from Van der Poel opened what looked to be the winning gap with a half lap to go. 

An unlucky slip through a muddy section saw Van der Poel falter, and that allowed Van Aert all he needed to reconnect with the Dutchman. Their pace dropped, and suddenly Pidcock was back in contention for the final sprint.

Van Aert was the first to start his sprint and outpowered Van der Poel and Pidcock to take the victory.

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