Van der Poel dominates Superprestige Zonhoven
Van Aert second, Aerts third
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) soloed to victory in the iconic sand pit at Zonhoven, making it five wins in five races at the Superprestige Trophy. Wout Van Aert (Cibel-Cebon) took a distant second, as he did at Scheldecross on Saturday, finishing 43 second down. Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions) rounded out the podium, 1:35 back.
After his minute-plus win at Scheldecross, it's van der Poel's second win of the weekend and the 15th of the season. The only blemishes to his perfect record in the major cyclo-cross series - the Superprestige, the UCI World Cup and the DVV Trofee - are his absences at Waterloo and Iowa City and a 21st place at Koppenbergcross.
Van der Poel made his move on the very first lap of the race, going it alone at the first opportunity. By the end of the lap he was already 21 seconds clear, with a group of six chasers, including Van Aert, emerging behind.
Young British rider Tom Pidcock (TP Racing) was an early victim of the icy conditions, falling in the sand on a downhill section before recovering to finish just outside the top ten in a brutal race. Up front, Van Aert was trying to push on from the chase group, trying in vain to limit the damage van der Poel had meted out.
The world champion managed to thin out the chase group, taking Aerts and Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions) with him. By the end of lap two, the gap to van der Poel was already 40 seconds though, and the chasers' dreams of competing for a win looked just as distant.
Van Aert went once again on lap four, gapping his Telenet companions, with seven seconds between each of the trio at the midway point. Aerts would make it back to Van Aert though, while nearly a minute up the road van der Poel was in a race of his own.
Aerts lost ground on lap seven, but kept Van Aert in his sights until the penultimate lap. There, he was forced to stop for over half a minute with a mechanical, sealing his third place. Well over a minute up the road, van der Poel had some trouble too, clipping the barrier on the inside of a corner and going down. But the race was already over - such was his domination that he could afford a spot of showboating along the way too.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon - Circus | 1:00:33 |
2 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) | 0:00:43 |
3 | Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions | 0:01:35 |
4 | Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions | 0:02:03 |
5 | Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:02:22 |
6 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:02:24 |
7 | Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) | 0:02:28 |
8 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Steylaerts - 777 | 0:02:48 |
9 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Corendon - Circus | 0:02:53 |
10 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Bingoal | 0:03:09 |
11 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux - Bingoal | 0:03:20 |
12 | Michael Boroš (Cze) Creafin Tüv Sud | 0:03:45 |
13 | Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions | 0:03:51 |
14 | Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Tp Racing | 0:04:04 |
15 | Daan Soete (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:04:16 |
16 | Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions | 0:04:29 |
17 | Thymen Arensman (Ned) | 0:04:45 |
18 | Ben Turner (GBr) Corendon - Circus | 0:05:22 |
19 | Gioele Bertolini (Ita) Selle Italia - Guerciotti - Elite | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Thomas Mein (GBr) Tarteletto - Isorex | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Jakob Dorigoni (Ita) Selle Italia - Guerciotti - Elite | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Sieben Wouters (Ned) Creafin Tüv Sud | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Bingoal | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Ryan Kamp (Ned) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Roel Van Der Stegen (Ned) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan - Charles | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Loris Rouiller (Swi) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Timo Kielich (Bel) Steylaerts - 777 | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Tim Van Dijke (Ned) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Mick Van Dijke (Ned) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Tomas Kopecky (Cze) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Thomas Verheyen (Bel) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Matthias Van Roy (Bel) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Sander Elen (Bel) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Garry Millburn (Aus) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Yelle Leaerts (Bel) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Cyprien Gilles (Fra) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Alexander Forrester (GBr) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Balázs Vas (Hun) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Simon Lepoittevin Dubost (Fra) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Wyn Masters (NZl) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Tetsuki Kaji (Jpn) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Marco Oberteicher (Ger) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Ryan Middlemiss (GBr) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Tyla Loftus (GBr) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan - Charles | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
DNF | David Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon - Circus | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Daniel Tulett (GBr) Tp Racing | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Lars Van Den Berghen (Ned) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.
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