Rain and women's race surprise Ronhaar in Hulst: "That might have cost me second place in the end"

Just a week ago, Pim Ronhaar crossed the finish line at the Cyclo-cross World Cup in Namur swearing in frustration. While he secured fourth place in the race in Belgium, he managed a third-place finish in Hulst in the Netherlands. IDLProCycling.com caught up with the talkative Dutchman after the race.

The first question was: how different was crossing the finish line in Hulst compared to last week in Namur? "The same, but a little less," he said, referring to the number of expletives he needed. "I just made too many mistakes today, I think. I started on baby Limus tires, but it was too slippery. Then I switched to Limus tires, but it took some time to adjust." Both are mud tires, but the baby Limus has less tread, making it harder to maintain grip in heavy mud.

After switching tires, the Baloise Trek Lions rider had to close a gap to the lead group. "When I caught up, I crashed and had to close another 10 to 15 seconds. That might have cost me second place in the end, but Niels (Vandeputte, ed.) was the strongest today."

Women's race and rain lead to poor tire choice for Ronhaar

Ronhaar acknowledged that his tire choice wasn’t ideal. He explained that the course had changed significantly since the recon. "During the recon, it was perfect. But then the women raced, which tore up the track even more, and the rain also made it extremely slippery. Maybe I switched too late, but I think everyone struggled with that at the start of the race."

Ronhaar wasn’t the only rider who had trouble with the slippery terrain — many top riders crashed repeatedly. "This wasn’t about raw power, it was about avoiding mistakes. You had to ride hard but, above all, not mess up while maintaining a high tempo. Niels did that perfectly. I didn’t feel like I could use my power properly. It was all about going from corner to corner and trying to stay upright. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more about power."

Ronhaar looks forward to Zonhoven more than Van der Poel’s return

The 23-year-old will be back in action at the World Cup in Zonhoven. Does he have anything left in the tank after the tough race in Hulst? "Of course, a race like this takes a toll. But an hour in Dendermonde is different from an hour in Hulst. You always have to go deep, but it’s difficult when it’s this slippery. Here, it’s hard to ride fast in between the corners and keep as high a pace as possible while staying upright. I haven’t checked my heart rate yet, but I’m sure it was high."

Despite this, Ronhaar is confident about Zonhoven. "The course usually suits me, especially the middle sections, which should be good for me because of the rain. But we’ll see tomorrow. Last year, I finished fourth and was in contention for second until the final lap. I’ll try that again this year. I didn’t feel like I could push myself to the limit today, so we’ll aim for that tomorrow."

Zonhoven will also mark the first time this season that Ronhaar faces Mathieu van der Poel, who is making his return to cyclo-cross. When asked if he’s looking forward to racing against the cyclo-cross world champion, Ronhaar’s response was brief and blunt: "I don’t care."

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