today, 4pm | by Youri van den Berg
In the X2O Trophy round in Koksijde – also called the Flemish Duinencross – Mathieu van der Poel once again fell short. Almost a minute and a half away, Pim Ronhaar finished second, while Wout van Aert had to settle for third, almost two minutes behind the Alpecin-Deceuninck phenomenon. In Leiderstrui we spent the whole day in West Flanders and wrote the story of Van Aert’s day!
«This time it is very difficult. The middle lanes are really muddy. I’ve actually never seen it this bad in Koksijde. The goal, just like in all other races, is simply to do your best. It’s a very nice race, which I’ve already competed in many times. I’m really looking forward to it.’ This was the perspective of Van Aert, who ultimately crossed the finish line in third place, just a stone’s throw from the Belgian coast.
In Koksijde, Van Aert was mainly concerned with keeping Van der Haar and Vermeersch behind him
The 29-year-old Belgian was a bit unlucky at the start, because he came off the pedal and therefore followed the entire cross. “I had to run to be in front. It was a bit much because I was diving into the sand with a very high heart rate. Van der Poel was fine as usual. I chose my pace faster and it wasn’t very high,” she said. his response to current cycling news.
Van Aert, plays for Visma | Lease a Bike (the former Jumbo-Visma), he initially had to deal with Lars van der Haar (fourth) and Gianni Vermeersch (fifth) during the cross. The two left, after which Van Aert had to work hard to correct the situation. In the end, he managed to catch Van der Haar at the start of the penultimate round, and then left the Dutch champion behind. ‘I was suddenly told on the way that I was still near Ronhaar. In reality I didn’t expect it, given that my concern was above all third place and keeping Van der Haar and Vermeersch behind me. I still had a small chance of finishing second. The last stretch of sand was crucial in that context, but I had difficulty getting over it.’
Read more below the tweet!
During a three-week internship in Spain, Van Aert will race in Benidorm, put in hours and, above all, train the basics
In conversation with the press, the Belgian also took stock of his cross-country skiing season, which is now almost over. ‘In the last two games, in Baal and here in Koksijde, I haven’t found the good feelings I had in Hulst. I have no immediate explanation for this. It was good, but the sensations were certainly not great, “he says before the match in Koksijde. “But in general it was a strange winter, because I purposely didn’t turn those crosses into goals. However, I wanted to do my best, so I often had to adapt to the legs I had. It was just like that, even if it wasn’t always easy. So it’s easy to say that I had better legs in previous seasons, but still, it was a lot of fun to get back on the field. I had a nice win in Heusden-Zolder, I always saw a lot of people along the route and I really enjoyed meeting my fans again.’
“Now I know how the rest of the group feels,” Van Aert later says, laughing, when it comes to “a new beating” from the MVDP. «I’ll take a weekend off first. Then we will go to Spain with the team, where I will stay for three weeks and mainly train the fundamentals. After all, I worked hard over the Christmas period. Last year I continued racing, even until I retired and then immediately back there. It was a little too much for me. So now a few days of rest follow. I will also take the Benidorm cross with me, because we are in the area, I like to ride it and it adapts well. In Spain it’s mostly about working long hours.’
Youri van den Berg (Twitter: @YourivndnBerg)
Read the article on the mobile site
Not inside
2024-01-05 15:00:00
#Van #Aert #winks #defeat #Van #der #Poel #rest #group #feels