Pim Ronhaar's expectation comes true in Benidorm: "Then mentally, you're actually already 1-0 behind"

A sixteenth-place finish turned out to be the maximum possible for Ronhaar, who started well. "Maybe I pushed too hard in the beginning, but normally it's something I should be able to handle, especially in a mud cross. We are not really made for those fast laps; I've already discussed that with Joris and Lars (Nieuwenhuis and Van der Haar, respectively, ed.). For instance, Waterloo also has fast laps, but there's flow to it. Here, it's more like constantly coming to a standstill in those corners. I still need to train on that," he says.

Particularly on the asphalt strips of false flat, where Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert also crashed a few times, Ronhaar looked strong. "That kind of effort suits me very well, but if you push yourself too hard, then you pay for it in the next round," he laughed. "With Mathieu, you try to go with him, but he and Wout can maintain that for several rounds, while we can do it for two or three rounds at most. After that, I didn't get much out of it, as I was in a bit of a slump."

"I knew beforehand that it could be a problem here, and then mentally you are already 1-0 behind. Your back hurts, and everything is a little bit against you, but I knew beforehand that it was going to be damage control for an hour. It was," he is realistic after the fast city park cross in Benidorm.

"Lars is now overtaking me again for the World Cup, but whether you're third or fourth... if I had made it a goal, I would have been upset, but a little less now," Ronhaar commented. This is logical, given his performance this season. "My winter is also already successful, with those victories I have achieved. The National Championship was also good, but Joris was just a little better there. So now here in Benidorm, it went a little less, but we know why."

"Now, we are going to train well, go all out in Hoogerheide, and then the World Championships will follow," said the eager rider of Baloise Trek Lions. "This week in Spain was perfect; everything went really well. I will stay with David Haverdings until Thursday; then we will do some endurance training. This is the only period where we can still do some endurance training, so we are going to take advantage of that."