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 stay streaming footage confirmed him immediately laying 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 but it surely was not, I used to be on the bottom and I knew the race was over. My shoulder is a bit sore, but it surely’s OK,” Van der Poel stated in a post-race interview.
The occasion marked the thirteenth and penultimate spherical of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, and massive 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 most important stars of the game from their January coaching camps, lots of which happen within the Calpe and Denía space, which could be very near the coastal city.
Van der Poel admitted that he had a gradual begin, caught behind the primary 20 riders on the circuit after the opening lap, the place he had a mechanical.
“At first, my chain got here off, and I needed to chase, however that was OK,” Van der Poel stated. “However within the penultimate lap, after the sandpit, I hit the spot a bit of an excessive amount of with my shoulder, and I knew it was over.”
Van der Poel misplaced useful time and positions as he cautiously remounted his bike after the crash, and he bought again into the race however was 22 seconds behind the leaders. He managed to shut the hole to simply 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 laborious race, and I did not have the freshest legs as I believed, however possibly successful was nonetheless doable; it might have been troublesome,” stated Van der Poel, who will line up as defending champion on the World Championship in Tabor in February.
Van der Poel had gained ten races in a row and gained 4 consecutive rounds of the World Cup in Antwerp, Gavere, Hulst, and Zonhoven earlier than lining up in Benidorm.
Requested if shedding his successful streak bothered him, he stated, “No, not likely,” however added, “In fact, I wish to win, however I knew that it needed to finish sometime. This can be a tremendous troublesome race to win. It’s troublesome to make a distinction, and I believe I’ve to be glad with my place at present.”
