"I hate him, but I love him": the eternal rivalry between Van der Poel and Van Aert

Although the cyclocross season, in itself, is exciting, the vast majority of the audience following this discipline has been eager to know the cyclocross race calendar for both Wout van Aert and the events that Mathieu van der Poel will compete in, and, of course, how many of them will coincide. This rivalry dates back to when both were taking their first pedals and continues to generate maximum anticipation today.

The battle between Van Aert and Van der Poel: a major attraction of the Christmas cyclocross races

In recent years, all those who got hooked on cyclocross thanks to the fierce battles and thrilling races gifted to us for over a decade by Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert may feel a bit orphaned. First, due to the increasingly shorter seasons for both, who are now more focused on road cycling, where we have enjoyed these confrontations to a much lesser extent.

Secondly, because while Wout van Aert has shown himself more as a team player, his willingness has led him to stand out more in helping his leaders win major races, such as Vingegaard and the Tour de France. On the other hand, Mathieu van der Poel has established himself as one of the great classics riders in history, rivaling and being one of the few who can boast of having beaten Tadej Poga?ar.

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Also, in the last two years, their confrontations in the mud, besides being more scarce, have mostly favored an unbeatable Mathieu van der Poel, who refuses to give up on one thing regarding cyclocross: the World Championship. A race in which this season he could surpass Eric de Vlaeminck's rainbow record if he manages to secure his eighth title.

And with that, when both are racing, the audiences multiply because it guarantees that we will see a top-level sporting spectacle with a dogfight between them that will give us more than one conversation with our cycling buddies.

These confrontations have been happening since both were competing in the junior category and later transitioned until they both became professionals in the discipline. And we must not forget that both Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are cyclocross cyclists, meaning this was their main modality until both jumped to the road in 2019, a change that has forced them to give less and less prominence to the mud discipline due to the obligation to show their best performance during the long road campaigns.

Other aspects also make the rivalry between Van der Poel and Van Aert attractive; for instance, the simple fact that one is Belgian and the other Dutch, which elevates the competition to another level in those northern European regions. We only need to recall last year's World Cup event in Hulst, where Van der Poel had to endure several Belgian fans throwing beer and other liquids at him during the race.

In any case, it is worth noting that, despite not being close beyond cycling, the relationship between both cyclists is one of deep respect and cordiality, with their battles reserved only for the races where, indeed, there is not a second of truce, and the motivation to defeat the great rival provides an extra boost to achieve maximum performance in the race.

Therefore, let us enjoy the five occasions we will have this season to see these two giants face to face, which will surely allow us to enjoy cyclocross at another level.