Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) salvaged what was left of his race on the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Benidorm after crashing on the penultimate lap, remounting and ending in fifth place 12 seconds behind solo winner Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) on Sunday.
The World Champion was racing among the many lead group on the eighth of 9 laps when the reside streaming footage confirmed him instantly on the bottom on a hard-packed and dusty part of the circuit.
“After the sand pit I hit a spot, I believed it was a bit softer however it was not, I used to be on the bottom and I knew the race was over. My shoulder is a bit sore, however it’s OK,” Van der Poel mentioned in a post-race interview.
The occasion marked the thirteenth and penultimate spherical of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, and large crowds got here out to observe what was the ultimate conflict of the season between favourites Van der Poel and Van Aert.
As well as, Benidorm’s place, each geographically and on the calendar, meant it attracted the largest stars of the game from their January coaching camps, a lot of which happen within the Calpe and Denía space, which may be very near the coastal city.
Van der Poel admitted that he had a sluggish begin, caught behind the primary 20 riders on the circuit after the opening lap, the place he had a mechanical.
“To start with, my chain got here off, and I needed to chase, however that was OK,” Van der Poel mentioned. “However within the penultimate lap, after the sandpit, I hit the spot a little bit an excessive amount of with my shoulder, and I knew it was over.”
Van der Poel misplaced priceless time and positions as he cautiously remounted his bike after the crash, and he received again into the race however was 22 seconds behind the leaders. He managed to shut the hole to only 12 seconds on the end line, taking fifth place on the day.
“It is higher to have it [bad luck] now. It is a tremendous onerous race, and I did not have the freshest legs as I believed, however perhaps profitable was nonetheless potential; it will have been tough,” mentioned Van der Poel, who will line up as defending champion on the World Championship in Tabor in February.
Van der Poel had received ten races in a row and received 4 consecutive rounds of the World Cup in Antwerp, Gavere, Hulst, and Zonhoven earlier than lining up in Benidorm.
Requested if dropping his profitable streak bothered him, he mentioned, “No, not likely,” however added, “After all, I wish to win, however I knew that it needed to finish sometime. This can be a tremendous tough race to win. It’s tough to make a distinction, and I feel I’ve to be happy with my place as we speak.”
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