In Zonhoven, Wout Van Aert dominated in front of a compliant Van der Poel. For those who followed the race, Van Aert's domination was overwhelming, but seeing a Van der Poel give way already after 20 minutes of the race seemed strange.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had to settle for a distant second place, more than a minute behind Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) at the Zonhoven world cup. The Dutchman admitted that he was hampered by his persistent back pain.
Recall that Van der Poel missed almost all of last year's cyclocross season for a back injury and the problem reappearedX2O Trophies of Koksijde in the middle of the week, where he always placed 2nd behind Van Aert.
That's no good. She's not doing the way I like. My back hurts again and it's a bit frustrating. The only thing I was thinking about in the race is my back hurting, and in cyclocross you have to be 100% focused on the course, and I haven't been able to. I can maybe do half a turn at the pace I want but then I have to slow down because of the pain, it's super frustrating – Mathieu Van der Poel
THE 2 FALLS IN ZONHOVEN
Van der Poel will travel to Spain on Monday for a road training camp with his team Alpecin-Deceuninck: the next Cup in Benidorm on 22 January is just around the corner. Not to mention the duel that awaits him on February 5th with Wout Van Aert at the World Championships in Hoogerheide.
Of course Wout van Aert is also very strong, you can't put that down. But of course I need to be able to compete longer. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a retreat in Spain, and maybe it's just the right time to recover and work on my back. The crowds were helpful here in Zonhoven, but at the moment it's not fun to compete in the cross – Mathieu Van der Poel in Sporza
