Perfect home win: The Dutch professional cyclist Mathieu van der Poel won the title at the Cross Country World Championships in Hoogerheide and thus won the duel against his long-time rival Wout van Aert.
Perfect home win: The Dutch professional cyclist Mathieu van der Poel won the title at the Cross Country World Championships in Hoogerheide and thus won the duel against his long-time rival Wout van Aert.
On Sunday, the 28-year-old Alpecin Deceuninck professional won the showdown in his home country just ahead of the slightly favored Belgian. Van der Poel thus secured the fifth rainbow jersey of his career. “This victory is definitely one of the top 3 greatest successes of my career,” said van der Poel after the race.
Both pros pulled away from the start and the expected duel quickly developed, which the Dutchman won in a duel well worth seeing. The Belgian Eli Iserbyt won the bronze medal, the best German driver was Marcel Meisen, who finished the race in 32nd place.
The two opponents, van der Poel and van Aert, already fought duels as teenagers and are considered two of the greatest all-rounders in cycling history. In 13 races at the competition, van Aert claimed nine wins, always finishing at least second. Van der Poel drove one more race and was on the podium twelve times before his most recent triumph. The Dutchman secured the title in 2015 and from 2019 to 2021, last year the Briton Tom Pidcock won, who did not start this time.
Fem van Empel won the women’s race on Saturday. The 20-year-old Jumbo Visma driver started as one of the favorites in her home country and lived up to the role.
Source: Stern
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