We would not like to be in the shoes of the other cyclo-crossers who are faced with 3 authentic cycling phenomena, namely Mathieu Van Der Poel, Wout Van Aert and Tom Pidcock. This stellar trio seems to have no problem practicing any cycling discipline. There is no such thing as being out of shape: when they show up for a competition, they always have the right rhythm to put on a show. You have to come phenomena.
But they too had to struggle at their debut, or rather, they encountered some minor mistakes.
TOM PIDCOCK DEBUT
Tom Pidcock was the first of the 3 to make his debut: he started at the Superprestige of Merksplas (November 19th) and with the World Cup of Overijse, then concluded at 2nd place just a few seconds behind Michael Vanthourenhout. The reigning world champion suffered from many small mistakes, when he seemed to have one leg superior to the European champion Vanthourenhout. A bad fall on the asphalt in the middle of the race made him lose precious seconds, seconds which later proved to be fundamental in the failure to catch up with Vanthourenhout near the finish.
DEBUT OF MATHIEU VAN DER POEL
Mathieu van der Poel has debut in Hulst, winning, but the first half of the match was not easy. Van Der Poel could see that he had watts to spare but he made many small mistakes, including a crash during the 1st lap (see video below).
Then a bad crash occurred at the Superprestige, where he slipped on a stretch of cobblestone and we know how hard the asphalt is. Tom Pidcock was also involved in the crash, which then glided smoothly to victory. Van Der Poel then finished 13th but made up for it the day after, with a performance as a champion in the World Cup. Here is the video of Van Der Poel's crash at the Superprestige.
DEBUT OF WOUT VAN AERT
Wout Van Aert made his debut a few races after Pidcock and Van Der Poel, but he demonstrated how class is not water: ready, go and immediately in front of all the cyclocross specialists in line. Only an extraordinary Van Der Poel put the Belgian talent in his place, which finished in 2nd place. Wout Van Aert rode very well but on the wooden planks he proved to be more woody than the others: he too needs some running-in races (see the video).
