Van der Poel beats Tom Pidcock with photo finish on the Nove Mesto Short Track

 

Only 5 days later, the best XCO riders in the world met again at the Nove Mesto Short Track and Van der Poel took the victory again, but this time it was not so easy.

Van der Poel wins the Short Track of the 2021 Nove Mesto World Cup

New Zealander Anton Cooper caused the first surprise of the race by taking the lead from the start, but the position was short-lived. That is, until Mathieu Van der Poel started to increase the pace before the course narrowed.

After the opening lap the pace "relaxed", Nino Schurter took the lead and behind him Tom Pidcock, Victor Koretzky, Henrique Avancini, Van der Poel and Anton Cooper were all on the same time.

On lap 3 there were several attacks by Van der Poel and Avancini, but neither opened up a gap despite the nervousness in the front group.

With one lap to go, Van der Poel made a tough selection with only Tom Pidcock, Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky coming in, but there would be more to come on the final lap.

It was all decided in an intense sprint where Mathieu Van der Poel took the win by half a bike length over Tom Pidcock. However, the photo finish had to be consulted.

Results Men's Short Track 2021 Nove Mesto World Cup

1. Mathieu Van der Poel 20:48
2. Thomas Pidcock 00:00
3. Jordan Sarrou 00:00
4. Victor Koretzky 00:01
5. Maximilian Brandl 00:03
6. Maxime Marotte 00:06
7. Anton Cooper 00:08
8. Lasrs Forster 00:11
9. Luca Braidot 00:12
10. Vlad Dascalu 00:13