The duel between Van der Poel and Van Aert is back: "That's more of a thing in people's minds than in ours"

Two out of two. Mathieu van der Poel's score this cyclocross season is so far one hundred percent. And once again, the Dutchman showcased his class by shaking off his competitors with a long solo effort. He also managed to defeat Wout van Aert, who offered him some resistance for several laps.

"I really had a good feeling, but I rode especially well through the sand," Van der Poel said in the post-race flash interview in Mol. "That was the key here, and it allowed me to create a gap quickly." In the end, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider finished more than a minute ahead of the second-placed Van Aert.

"I paced my race well too. I had sections where I could recover and sections in the sand where I could push hard. I had fun today," the world cyclo-cross champion said with a smile before stepping onto the podium.

Van der Poel thinks Van Aert could still make things difficult for him

Ultimately, Van der Poel turned it into a very fast race. Only ten riders would finish; the rest were taken out of the race due to the eighty percent rule. "It's, of course, a fast course where the eighty percent rule is applied quickly. But I had a good pace for myself without going over the limit. That's why I was able to ride very fast laps."

The race in Mol was, of course, primarily about the duel between Van Aert and Van der Poel. "That's more of a thing in people's minds than in ours," Van der Poel believes. "Especially for Wout, who has already indicated that he's taking things a bit easy this winter, without being in peak form. That's a smart approach in his case, but I don't rule out that he will give me a hard time this winter. He will undoubtedly win a few races."

This could happen as soon as the day after the cross in Mol. Van Aert will also compete in the Antwerp cross, part of the World Cup, just like Van der Poel.