Mathieu van der Poel had a triumphant return to cyclocross, demonstrating his supremacy in the X2O Trophy Herentals. The world champion took the lead from the first lap, establishing a gap that none of the competitors could overcome.
Tom Pidcock, also making his comeback, secured the second position, followed by Lars van der Haar and Eli Iserbyt, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
Watch the start, with Van der Poel taking the lead: [link to video].
In the second lap of the eight planned, Van der Poel extended his lead even further. Van der Haar took the lead in the chase group, accompanied by Vandeputte, Iserbyt, and Vanthourenhout, trailing half a minute behind the fellow countryman leader. The competition among them was turning into a battle for the second position.
Despite a fall just before the halfway point of the race, Van der Poel maintained his position, not significantly losing his advantage. His lead remained solid and comfortable.
Tom Pidcock begins to recover positions
Meanwhile, Pidcock was on the rise. The British rider managed to move up to the second chase group, where Van der Haar and Cameron Mason were, along with Eli Iserbyt, 56 seconds behind Van der Poel in the last lap. The world champion was able to take things relatively easy in the final lap. Thus, the Dutchman won his first Cyclocross race of the 2023-2024 season with authority.
A battle for the second place was unfolding in the chase group. Just before the start of the final lap, Pidcock launched an attack, Mason and Van der Haar yielded, but Iserbyt did not. He stayed just a few meters behind the British rider. However, on the Skiberg climb, Iserbyt had to give up, and Pidcock gained a bit more space. The Briton stayed ahead of his pursuers until the end and finished second in his comeback. In the end, Van der Haar managed to overtake Iserbyt and completed the podium.
Watch the arrival of Mathieu van der Poel
Complete results of the X2O Trophy Herentals:
