The first real showdown between Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel ended in an anticlimax. With two laps remaining, Wout van Aert crashed hard, forcing him to let Van der Poel go. The Belgian then appeared to be in considerable pain and had to abandon the race.
Van Aert started his cross in Mol furiously. In the first two laps, the Belgian put Van der Poel under significant pressure, which led to a breakaway. Due to a mistake in the third lap, he had to let Van der Poel get away, but the battle was far from over.
In the fourth lap, Van Aert managed to close a fifteen-second gap to the world champion, resulting in a genuine duel for the win. Van Aert succeeded in pressuring Van der Poel several times, but ultimately the race ended in disappointment for Van Aert. With two and a half laps to go, Van Aert crashed hard and had to quit, suffering, among other injuries, a bleeding knee.
The extent of Van Aert's injuries is not yet known.
What the snow gives you, the snow takes away. 😫💥
Van Aert's crash definitively drops him behind Van der Poel, while dreaming of a victory at the #Zilvermeercross. #cyclocross | #ExactCross pic.twitter.com/on3bYbnMVm
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) January 2, 2026
