Van Aert makes his CX debut and wins Exact Cross Essen with authority

There was much talk this week about whether Belgian Wout van Aert would arrive in his best form for his cyclocross debut. But all doubts were dispelled in just 1 hour and 2 minutes, the time it took the Belgian to arrive first and alone at the finish line of the Exact Cross Essen. 

Wout van Aert wins the Exact Cross Essen 2023 with authority

Van Aert was the first of the 'three magnificents' (along with Van der Poel and Pidcock) to start his 2023 cyclocross season. An unusual season in which the three have chosen to reduce the number of mud races to focus on their road objectives. Something that does not seem to have affected Van Aert's eagerness to win any CX race he starts at all.

At 15:00 this Saturday, the Exact Cross Essen started from the Belgian town of the same name. Van Aert was a little behind at the start of the race, but it seems that he only used that time to recover sensations at his own pace. 

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Halfway through the race and after having tightened the leading group among which were Lander Loockx, Jens Adams, Tom Meeusen and Lauryssen, among others, he launched a decisive attack with which he went first alone and allowed him to add seconds of advantage until reaching the last 2 laps with more than 1 minute of advantage.

1. Person or entity that, with physical or intellectual power, overcomes all opposition.

2. Wout van Aert

The Belgian starts the cyclocross season with an undisputed victory in the mud of Essen

Adams
Aerts#ExactCross | #CXEurosport pic.twitter.com/OciYdTA4EK

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) December 9, 2023

Wout van Aert entered the finish line alone to win the Exact Cross Essen with more than 1 and a half minute advantage over Jens Adams, who finished second, and almost 3 over Thijs Aerts who closed the podium.

1. Wout van Aert 1:01:53
2. Jens Adams + 1m35s
3. Thijs Aerts +2m50s
4. Lander Loockx +3m12s
5. Yorben Lauryssen +3m13s
6. Viktor Vandenberghe +3m19s
7. Vincent Baestaens +3m32s
8. Clément Horny +4m33s
9. Thomas Verheyen +4m58s
10. Wout Janssen +5m17s

The next date on Van Aert's cyclocross calendar will take us to December 22 at the Exact Cross de Mol, where he will face World Champion Mathieu van der Poel for the first time.