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Mathieu van der Poel dominates cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide

Mathieu van der Poel won the final round of the 2014-2015 World Cup season with a stunning, solo performance in his hometown of Hoogerheide, The Netherlands, earning himself a place on the roll of honour in the race dedicated to his father, the cycling, and cyclocross, legend Adri van der Poel.

January 25, 2015
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Source: @Nieuwsblad_be
Mathieu van der Poel. Source: @Nieuwsblad_be

Mathieu van der Poel won the final round of the 2014-2015 World Cup season with a stunning, solo performance in his hometown of Hoogerheide, The Netherlands, earning himself a place on the roll of honour in the race dedicated to his father, the cycling, and cyclocross, legend Adri van der Poel. The 20-year-old Dutch champion outmanoeuvred everybody on the first pass through the technical, wooded section of the course, earning a few seconds’ lead then accelerating, never to be seen by the pack again. He was nearly half a minute up by the end of the first lap. By the end of the third, his lead had a gone out to a minute. By the end of the fourth, the race was as good as decided.

Behind, Gianni Vermeersch got away to chase solo but the rest looked lethargic as van der Poel flew around the course, his finesse and power barely waning. The favourites finally woke up in the second half of the race, with Wout Van Aert, Sven Nys, Lars van der Haar, and Kevin Pauwels each having a go, while Francis Mourey clung on stubbornly. With a few laps left, Van Aert put in a big attack to bring himself up to Vermeersch, with Kevin Pauwels in tow. The three traded blows, before Van Aert dealt his knockout punch, just into the final round. The young Belgian left the two Sunweb teammates floundering, but was far too late to challenge the race leader. A minute ahead,  Mathieu van der Poel held the Dutch flag aloft down the finishing straight, the flag’s red, white and blue matching his champion’s jersey. Next weekend, in Tabor, the 20-year-old will go up against the same elite field, in hopes of trading that shirt for one with a rainbow. Van Aert settled for second. Pauwels let Vermeersch take the final podium spot, wrapping up his overall World Cup win with a fourth. Lars van der Haar came across the line in fifth, to clinch second place in the World Cup classification. Corné van Kessel managed to hold onto third place in the classification, despite finishing a distant 27th. For Canada, Aaron Schooler finished 55th, Mike Garrigan was 58th, and Mark McConnell was 62nd.

In the women’s race, Eva Lechner beat Katerina Nash for the win, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot rounding out the podium. Canada’s Mical Dyck finished 29th. Sanne Cant clinched the overall World Cup title with a fourth place. Ellen Van Loy finished second in the overall classification. Katie Compton was third.

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