Lars van der Haar sees 'transitional year' in cyclo-cross: "It's fun, but not always ideal for me"

Lars van der Haar appeared to be on his way to a superb top-three spot in the World Cup of Zonhoven, won by Mathieu van der Poel, but the strong Dutch rider eventually had to settle for place five. IDLProCycling.com spoke with the always friendly rider, who has an important assignment on Monday in Mol as the co-leader of the Superprestige.  

Top five in Zonhoven, that's something Van der Haar can come home with no matter what. The Baloise Trek Lions rider last finished in the top five in a cyclo-cross race on November 17, but we certainly shouldn't draw any conclusions from that, according to him. That said, our pretext 'he's back' is (rightfully) returned equally. "In Hulst, I was also basically okay, and last week. But the rest was better than," said Van der Haar, who did finish anywhere between place five and ten.

"This course in Zonhoven suits me well, but I think, above all, you see that there are very good riders. It is clear that with half a percent less, you can finish three or four places further down the field," explained the experienced cyclist. Men like Niels Vandeputte, Felipe Orts, and Pim Ronhaar - the podium Saturday in Hulst - are having trouble on Sunday, which could be proof of that. "But I am not so sure about that. I think the top is very broad."

"I said that in August and September," Van der Haar continued. "There are more and more riders popping up. Sometimes, it's that one; other times, it's another. This is just a transitional year; next year, they will be around more often," he explains, a man always in for a good and honest analysis.

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Van der Haar narrowly missed out on podium in Zonhoven: "Got a little out of rhythm"

Van der Haar performed very well in Zonhoven on Sunday. However, it did not seem to be heading that way initially. "I shot out of my pedal, so I had to return from afar. That worked out well because, normally, that's not always easy for me. But it's nice to see the youth doing so well. It was okay for once, although it's not always so good for me," he observes with a big smile.

"I try to stay with it as long as possible," said Van der Haar, who narrowly missed out on the podium in Zonhoven. "I also thought I would nail it, but it was tricky: the team wouldn't let me ride all the way through, so I lost my rhythm. The others still managed to put me under pressure, and then you make a mistake here and there, which means you lose your podium spot," concluded Van der Haar, who saw teammate Thibau Nys finish second.

Van der Haar's next appointment is on Monday when he will defend his Superprestige ranking in Mol. He is in the lead with Niels Vandeputte.

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