Cyclingflash
Wout van Aert sees dream rivalry with Van der Poel vanish after puncture

Wout van Aert sees dream rivalry with Van der Poel vanish after puncture

The cyclocross fan settled in well, because in the X2O-cross of Loenhout we seemed to be heading for a duel between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, but a flat tire for the Belgian threw a wrench in the works.

In the first two laps, it was still a bit tentative in Loenhout, but in the third lap the crowd went wild for the first time. It was Van Aert who took the lead and managed to break up the leading group. Only one rider was able to hang on to his wheel—and that was, of course, Van der Poel.

The cyclocross fan could thus prepare for a first, real showdown between the two best cyclocross riders of the past decade. However, the much-anticipated duel was short-lived, as in the fourth lap Van Aert lost a lot of ground in a short time.

It turned out: the Belgian was struggling with a flat tire and had to watch helplessly as his big rival rode further away. Upon entering the fifth lap, the gap had already grown to almost half a minute, but Van Aert still had quite a few meters to cover on his punctured rear wheel.

The Visma | Lease a Bike rider saw a possible first win of the season go up in smoke and, after his bike change, was caught by the chasers.