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Toon Aerts rules Waterloo World Cup

Cup holder van der Poel rests for first round

Toon Aerts’ earned first career cyclocross World Cup victory with an impressive win in Sunday’s first round of the 2018-2019 season at Waterloo, Wisconsin. Aerts took a runner-up spot and two podiums in last season’s series. Lars van der Haar and Sven Nys are the only riders to break Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aerts’ stranglehold on the UCI cyclocross World Cup over the three seasons.

The Course

Like day old spaghetti dropped from a great height, the 3.18-km Wisconsin course was a wriggly one with two flyovers. With rain during the previous week, the course wasn’t as hot and dusty as last season, but some of the riders still carried water bottles. More logs had been added for 2018.

The next hour would reveal whether newly independent, three time world champion Wout Van Aert hold off last year’s podium gang of Laurens Sweeck, Kevin Pauwels, Aerts, Michael Vanthourenhout, Corné van Kessel, Lars van der Haar and Daan Soete? Who would be the top Canadian of the five Canucks?

Early Laps

Van Aert seized the hole shot, but Sweeck led onto the first run-up. Van den Ham was 20th during Lap 1 of nine. A group of seven separated itself from the long, colourful snake of riders. Sweeck hit the line first with a time of 7:02. Michael van den Ham was 29th at the end of the first circuit and Gunnar Holmgren 36th.

Aerts grabbed the reins of Lap 2 but on the long run-up of Lap 3, Van Aert retook control. Van den Ham and Holmgren kept their positions and Smithers, BC’s own Craig Richey was 40th. Aerts’ teammate Quentin Hermans charged by the world champ midway through the lap and led six others into Lap 4.

Latter Half

Telenet–Fidea Lions’s Soete pulled three fellows into Lap 5: Van Aert, Aerts and Hermans. Soete and Hermans crashed, leaving Van Aert and Aerts. The duo took an 11-second lead into Lap 6.

On Lap 7, Aerts pulsed away from his compatriot. A Van Aert slip helped Toon pull out a healthy gap. The lead was 15-seconds going into the bell lap. A gleeful Aerts thrilled the crowd by catching some air over the last flyover.

Van den Ham finished 29th, Holmgren 35th, Craig Richey 40th, Trevor O’Donnell 41st and Isaac Niles 43rd.

2018 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Round 1, Elite Men
1) Toon Aerts (Belgium/Telenet–Fidea Lions) 1:01:49
2) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Independent) +0:34
3) Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) +0:51
29) Michael van den Ham (Canada) +4:54
35) Gunnar Holmgren (Canada) +5:51
40) Craig Richey (Canada) +7:15
41) Trevor O’Donnell (Canada) s.t.
43) Isaac Niles (Canada) s.t.