A flat tire leaves Wout van Aert unable to challenge Van der Poel in Loenhout

Only one lap lasted the anticipated duel between Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel in the Trofeo X2O cyclocross race in Loenhout. The Belgian gave it his all to defeat his archrival, but once again, punctures left him out of the race, allowing Van der Poel to continue adding to his impressive record in a new perfect season.

Mathieu van der Poel continues to dominate cyclocross and wins decisively in Loenhout

After watching the women's race, everything suggested that we would see, just like yesterday, a group race in the Loenhout cyclocross. This was the case during the first two laps, which almost seemed like a warm-up.

What we didn't expect was that, at the start of the third lap, it would be Wout van Aert who took the lead with a clear intention to break the race. Mathieu van der Poel saw it clearly and quickly overtook the couple of positions that separated him from the Visma-Lease a Bike rider, and although Joris Nieuwenhuis, leader of the X2O, tried to hold on to that train, he ultimately had to give way, setting the stage for the duel everyone wanted.

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As they passed the finish line, it was already evident that it would be a battle between these two, with more than 10 seconds of advantage over the chasing group. However, Mathieu van der Poel decided not to speculate and positioned himself at the front, setting an incredible pace with those explosive accelerations he makes out of every corner.

Clearly forced, Van Aert tried to hold on to his wheel, but the gap kept stretching until, at the exit of the planks, the gap became definitive. Van Aert began to look back and check his wheel, a clear sign that his rear tire was losing air. The lingering question is whether the puncture occurred before he fell off Van der Poel's wheel or, as happened the other day with Nys's mistake, it was precisely caused by pushing to the limit and completely blind while chasing the beast.

In any case, the race was already completely decided with Van der Poel continuing to increase his lead while riding without errors. Although Van Aert rejoined the main group and managed to break away solo in the next lap, a second puncture, this time far from the pits, made him give up definitively.

Almost at the same time this happened, Niels Vandeputte launched his attack and managed to shake off Joris Nieuwenhuis in a clear attempt to cut down the 1:27 that the Ridley rider had over him in the general classification. This left us with a nice chase towards the end of the race, although, in the end, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider would only manage to cut down a handful of seconds.

Classification Trofeo X2O – Loenhout-Azencross

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 57'48''
2. Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +46''
3. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley) +57''
4. Ryan Kamp (Alpecin-Deceuninck Development) +57''
5. Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens) +57''
6. Gioele Bertolini (Ale-Colnago) +59''
7. Anton Ferdinande (Shifting Gears) +1'00''
8. Cameron Mason (Seven Racing) +1'03''
9. Yorben Lauryssen (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) +1'15''
10. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'26''