Van Aert on booing towards Van der Poel: "Something must have happened, Mathieu can normally control himself well"

The number of remarkable incidents during the World Cup in Hulst is almost too high to count on both hands. Mathieu van der Poel's spitting incident and the shoulder-to-shoulder duel between Pim Ronhaar and Wout van Aert - including the discussion afterwards - were definitely among the most notable in this context. But what also stood out was the impressive comeback of Van Aert, who managed to rush from a beaten position all the way up to the fifth spot.

First, about that scuffle with the Dutchman of Baloise Trek Lions. In a tricky corner, Van Aert wanted to overtake Ronhaar but ended up colliding with the youngster. The result was a fall for Van Aert, who, to make matters worse, also had to deal with mechanical problems. "I was in Mathieu's wheel. There are right-angle turns there. Wout tried to squeeze in, but I was in front of him. I had the inside corner, he was on the outside. There is only one track there. Apparently, I pushed him into the fences. I spoke to him briefly after the finish. He was not very happy," Ronhaar told IDLProCycling.com.

Van Aert also reacted to the incident. "I don't know if I would have done it the same way as Pim in the past. But in the end, it was just shoulder to shoulder. I end up in the scenery, unfortunately with the chain off my bike as well. That was just the beginning of the bad luck. Later, I also had a flat tire." And that flat tire was somewhat emblematic of the string of bad luck in Hulst, where Van Aert still managed to rush to an extremely impressive honorable finish. "I was a bit too nervous," the Jumbo-Visma superstar elaborates on his final result in Hulst. "Actually, I was riding quite well. On this course, you lose a lot of time if you're not in position. So, I wanted to move up as quickly as possible."

Van Aert "lost" shoulder-to-shoulder duel with Ronhaar

"In previous races, I was often a bit lax because I felt that the potential wasn't there," he continues his story. "That's why I sometimes stayed further back in the group. I knew that wouldn't work here in Hulst. So, I decided to join the fight for positions. But unfortunately, I lost to Ronhaar." Is Van Aert angry after such a race? "Angry is not the right word, as I felt good. But then that competitive side of me comes out, and I do feel bad about being in fifth place. So, disappointed is a better word to describe it."

When Van Aert was subsequently confronted with the news that his longtime archrival had been subjected to frequent booing, he was not yet aware of it. "I don't know what happened. But people who come to boo might as well not come," he echoes similar sentiments as Van der Poel. "That's all I can say about it, although it's obviously very unfortunate." He himself has heard little in the way of negative comments directed at him in recent days. "There were huge amounts of people at the cyclo-cross races during the Christmas period. There was a lot of cheering, but in my opinion, it was often positive. Of course, I can't speak for Mathieu, but normally he is someone who can control himself very well. So, something must have happened."