In cyclocross, Wout Van Aert won the Superprestige race in Diegem yesterday evening. In a special night edition held in floodlights, and despite being "completely dead" as he told reporters after the finish, the Belgian champion Van Aert beat world champion Britain's Tom Pidcock after a long, exhausting race. In a real clash of the titans, the third top rider, Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel came third. A typical Flemish winter event, the cyclocross race in Diegem attracted about 20,000 enthusiasts.
Wout Van Aert beats Tom Pidcock in "clash of the titans" in Diegem: "This can't be healthy"
Michaël Torfs
Published:
The cyclocross classic in Diegem (near Brussels) is a technical race with a stretch through an artificial sand section in each of the 8 laps, muddy sections and also two hurdles in the form of upright planks where riders can choose to jump across or to get off the bike to get past it.
In a race with changing positions, it first looked as if Van der Poel had the best cards. He accelerated halfway in the sand section and set up a solo effort. But he didn't have the legs to stay in front: his eternal rival Van Aert caught him back; the two hesitated and let Briton Tom Pidcock come back.
Pidcock next turned the tables and escaped; Van Aert found it hard to close the gap but managed to return in the end, leaving Van der Poel behind. In a tense final, Van Aert got the better of Pidcock in the final lap.
When he crossed the finishline, the Belgian from Herentals made a gesture to say he was completely exhausted. "This cannot be healthy," Van Aert said about the tough race where he had to dig very, very deep. Tom Pidcock smiled and said: "A hard race? For me, this was the easiest of the last three we did." (a reference to the race in Gavere, which included a lot of mud and hard climbs, and to the race in Mol). The trio Wout Van Aert - Tom Pidcock - Mathieu Van der Poel also makes the headlines in the road races during the road season.
In the women's race, youngster Puck Pieterse came out on top.