Dutch phenomenon triumphs at Koksijde as Briton Pidcock places 10th over-sand.
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel continued his amazing 2019 bike dominance with his second consecutive 2019/2020 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup win at the Koksijde stop in Belgium. Here is all you need to know:
– Van der Poel sat out the first three rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup season to focus on his road cycling, which paid off handsomely with a superb Tour of Britain victory in the wake of classic wins at Amstel Gold Race, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl.
– The 24-year-old also pushed Swiss XCO legend Nino Schurter hard in the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup title race thanks to three victories and a second place.
– Back in cyclo-cross, Van der Poel came into the fifth round of the 2019/2020 World Cup season buoyed by his victory at last week’s Czech Republic stop in Tabor.
– He started badly this time around, however, stormed back to pass the whole field during a spectacular opening lap before pulling clear to win from Belgium’s Laurens Sweeck and Belgian champion Toon Aerts.
– He revealed: “It was definitely one of my best first laps ever. I got stuck behind a crash in the first corner and I wanted to take my time to get back to the front, but I felt immediately that I had really good legs. Before I knew it, I was back in second. I rode my own race. That’s always a good idea in the sand. It’s the easiest way.”
– It represents his 33rd consecutive cyclo-cross victory, including his 2019 World Championship title at Bogense back in February. He added: “Of course, one day I’m going to lose one. You can’t win them all. I’m already very proud of what I achieved the past few weeks.”
– Briton Thomas Pidcock improved on last week’s 14th place with 10th as Belgian Eli Iserbyt‘s title lead was cut to just 18 points by Aerts with Van der Poel 17th overall.
