Van der Poel quickly drops Van Aert and once again impresses with impressive solo in Mol

World champion Mathieu van der Poel won the first encounter with Wout van Aert on Friday afternoon. In the Exact Cross in Mol, the 28-year-old Dutchman proved to be significantly stronger than the 29-year-old Belgian. Niels Vandeputte, Van der Poel's teammate at Alpecin-Deceuninck, also joined them on the podium, in third place.

Lars van der Haar, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Pim Ronhaar, Eli Iserbyt or Laurens Sweeck were not present in Mol, but the organization (rightfully so!) was proud to showcase the first duel between Van Aert and Van der Poel. Gianni Vermeersch, Quinten Hermans and Niels Vandeputte were also there on behalf of Alpecin-Deceuninck, making it seem like a one-against-all battle. Moreover, a considerable crowd had gathered to witness the first clash between the two top riders at the beginning of the Christmas holiday, and no one wanted to miss it for anything in the world.

Van der Poel and Van Aert initially stayed together

Vincent Baestaens, who was chatting with Van Aert on the first starting row before the race, shot off like a rocket. Quinten Hermans and Baestaens initially played minor roles, and Van Aert was quickly dropped by his Dutch archrival. However, Van der Poel felt it was too early for a solo effort and held back. At the end of the first lap, the duo led the race, but when Van Aert looked back, he saw two new riders from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team following closely behind.

Shoulder to shoulder, the two rivals made their way through a sea of people and the wall of noise. They took turns leading the race, but at some moments, Van der Poel showed who was in charge. Van Aert was the first to tackle a sandy hill but didn't quite make it to the top. Van der Poel, on the other hand, seemed to ride impressively upward but was blocked on the inside of the turn by the Jumbo-Visma Belgian. However, the duo didn't go all out yet and allowed Hermans to catch up by the end of the second lap.

During the third lap, Van der Poel stepped up the pace, a surge that Van Aert couldn't match. It was as if the sand was just asphalt: Van der Poel swiftly navigated through the various puddles around the Zilvermeer. A lap later, the Dutchman's lead had grown to fourteen seconds until problems with his chain nearly halved his advantage. In the forest of the Kempen, his chain came off in one of the many turns, but Van der Poel turned into a super mechanic and quickly put his chain back in place.

Van Aert quickly realizes it's game over, Van der Poel nearly doubles final ten riders

Van Aert quickly realized that it was over and continued at his own pace. This was necessary because after the fourth lap, he had Vandeputte, Hermans and Toon Vandenbosch closing in on him. However, Van der Poel spared no one, and halfway through the race, the world champion had built up a lead of more than thirty seconds. Van der Poel's mechanics had a quiet afternoon, aside from the minor issue that he fixed himself, and the crowd's excitement faded due to the overwhelming dominance of the winner of Paris-Roubaix and Milan-Sanremo.

After seven laps, Van der Poel had lapped 44 riders and was cruising towards a relatively easy victory. Van Aert was clearly the best of the rest, trailing by over a minute, while there was a battle in the background for the final podium slot. Despite a chain problem, Vandeputte had the upper hand thanks to a fast passage through the sand and held his position, with Hermans following as the third rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck in fourth place, and Vandenbosch in fifth.

For Van der Poel, this was his second victory in two races. Earlier, the former winner of the Tour of Flanders also won the X2O Trophy in Herentals. Another victory is likely on Saturday in the World Cup in Antwerp, where Tom Pidcock, the last of 'the Big Three', will also be at the starting line.