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Wout Van Aert dominates in the slippery mud of Namur

World champion wins sixth round of the World Cup as Mathieu van der Poel has an off day finishing in third

Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert took his second straight World Cup win, thrashing the field in a great display of strength at Sunday’s sixth round of the UCI cyclocross World Cup in Namur, Belgium.

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A massive crash on the cobbles kicked off the men’s contest. Michael Vanthourenhout was the early leader but world champion Van Aert took over the front. Mathieu Van der Poel, who had to use a late attack Saturday to beat Van Aert in the DVV Trofee, found himself lagging behind.

On Lap 2 of nine, van der Poel became Van Aert’s closest pursuer, 20-seconds back. Toon Aerts established himself as third. By the start of Lap 3, van der Poel was 39-seconds behind, with a crash on the course’s trickiest section. On the fourth lap, Van Aert started lapping riders. Toon Aerts was nearly a minute behind his fellow Belgian and van der Poel 1:08 in arrears.


Van der Poel had to fight to become the second rider on the course. GPS tracking revealed that the Dutchman was 384-metres behind the Belgian. Truly the real race was for second place, with Aerts and van der Poel swapping the lead.

Aerts held a second’s gap over van der Poel going into the bell lap. Van Aert was enjoying a parade lap out front, eliciting cheers from the home fans. Aerts was also receiving raucous support from the crowd. A wretched, awkward crash for van der Poel ensured that it would be a Belgian one-two to match the British one-two.
Nevertheless, Aerts had to hold off the Dutchman at the finish.

The next World Cup race is on Boxing Day at Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

UCI Cyclocross World Cup Round 6 Elite Men

1) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Crelan-Charles) 1:07:47
2) Toon Aerts (Belgium/Telenet Fidea Lions) +1:04
3) Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands/Beobank-Corendon) +1:06