The elite men's race at the World Cyclocross Championships came down, as expected, to a two-man battle between Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout van Aert (Belgium), with the gold medal going to Dutch rider Van der Poel.
In the final sprint to the line in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands, Van der Poel got the jump on Van Aert. And once the gap of a length or two opened in the moment they kicked for the line, Van Aert simply could not close it, resulting in a delighted Van der Poel taking the world title.
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Van Aert had to be content with silver, adding to the other ten silver medals he has won at major championships in his career to date, many of them at the hands of Van der Poel (see details below). While Van Aert has been elite world champion three times in cyclocross and also won the U23 cyclocross title at the Worlds and Europeans in his career, his collection of silver medals is now getting bigger.
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Aside from today's silver, he was also 2nd in elite cyclocross Worlds three times - 2015, 2019, 2021 - and won silver in the junior cyclocross Worlds in 2012. In all four cases, Van der Poel won gold.
In the cyclocross Europeans, Van Aert won silver in 2015 and 2018, with Van der Poel taking gold in that 2018 race. Van Aert also claimed silver in the Olympic road race in 2021, and in the Worlds TT in 2020 and 2021 while also raking silver in the Worlds road race in 2020.
In today's world title contest, over 10 laps, Van der Poel and Van Aert almost immediately pulled clear of their rivals, with two races emerging; one to settle gold and silver out front and a 'best of the rest' race for the bronze medal among the closest chasers.
In the end, Belgium's Eli Iserbyt and Lars van der Haar of the Netherlands were just 12 and 13 seconds down - in 3rd and 4th - though that small time gap resulted from the leading duo playing cat and mouse in the closing stages.
More to come.
