Wout van Aert won round #9 of the UCI World Cup Cyclo-Cross in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday. Rounding out the podium was Laurens Sweeck in 2nd and current World Champion Tom Pidcock in 3rd. Last weekend’s winner Mathieu van der Poel did not race, opting instead to attend his team training camp in Spain.
How It Happened
The race began with Lars van der Haar taking the lead, followed by Laurens Sweeck and Eli Iserbyt. By mid-lap, the lead trio morphed into Iserbyt, Sweeck, and Michael Vanthourenhout, followed by Tom Pidcock. Wout van Aert, who didn’t receive a favorable starting position, was not far behind in eighth place before the end of lap 1.
Lap 2 saw Iserbyt leading a group of eight riders that included Sweeck, Pidcock, Vanthourenhout, van der Haar, and van Aert. This group essentially remained the same for lap 2.
In lap 3, Pidcock took over the lead briefly from Iserbyt, followed by Vanthourenhout, and Sweeck. For the most part, this lead group of eight held together. Van Aert maintained his position in this lead group until a miscalculation caused him to briefly skid out and lose a few seconds.
Lap 4 began with the trio of Pidcock, Sweeck, and Vanthourenhout ahead of van Aert and the field by a few seconds. Sweeck faded and dropped back while Pidcock continued to forge ahead on his own. Van Aert bridged up to Pidcock and Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout led the chase from behind.
In lap 5 the lead was Pidcock, van Aert, Iserbyt, Vanthourenhout, and Sweeck, until bad luck struck van Aert near the pits when he caught a mechanic’s towel hanging off the fencing. The towel wrapped in his rear derailleur and van Aert was forced to reverse direction and run back to the pits for a new bike. By the time van Aert remounted he was 16 seconds behind the leaders. Staying calm, Van Aert worked his way back up and regained contact with the leaders before lap 6 began.
Lap 6 started with a lead group of Pidcock, Iserbyt, Vanthourenhout, Sweeck, van Aert, and van der Haar. Pidcock faded unexpectedly and drifted to the back of the group and Sweeck tried to take up the lead but was quickly passed by Iserbyt, who led into the long sandy stretch. Van Aert saw opportunity and passed Iserbyt in the sandy stretch and immediately gained 6 seconds. Sweeck then came to the front again and chased with der Haar behind him, but was unable to bridge the gap to van Aert.
By lap 7, van Aert’s gap grew to 20 seconds. In second place, Sweeck chased, followed by van der Haar and Pidcock who battled it out for third. Coming into the finish, van Aert had plenty of time to celebrate. Sweeck followed at 14 seconds and Pidcock was able to take third, at 17 seconds.
Race Insights
While he made a few mistakes, Wout van Aert showed that he still has the skills to compete in World Cup cyclo-cross events. With the absence of Mathieu van der Poel, who was attending a team training camp in Spain, van Aert had to deal with being the marked rider and cyclo-cross rivals who are in far better shape – skill-wise – than he is presently. Van Aert’s advantage was clearly in the amount of power he could put out compared to the others. But with time and more practice, his cyclo-cross skills will come back and he will become more competitive against the cyclo-cross regulars – Sweeck et al – as well as against Mathieu van der Poel.
Laurens Sweeck is the World Cup leader and is showing everyone that he has what it takes to win the overall title. His rival, Eli Iserbyt, appears to be in better health, but it is uncertain whether the problems of back and leg pain that plagued him in the European Championships are still lingering.
Tom Pidcock had an odd race. Fading in the last part of the race it looked as though he would only finish in the top 10 at best. But then on the last lap he found the strength to move up and overtake Lars van der Haar for third place. Pidcock was seen using gels during the first few cyclo-cross races he competed in, suggesting he may have fueling issues that he hasn’t quite figured out yet.
Lars van der Haar also had an off-day, yo-yoing within the lead group and never appearing very comfortable at any point during the race. His problem may just be one of fatigue and the coming holiday break could be what he and many other riders need before the final World Cup races in January.
