As expected, world champion Mathieu van der Poel ruled Monday’s fifth round of the Superprestige series in Mol, Belgium. Like Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, he also won Sunday’s World Cup round, his season debut. It wasn’t a cake walk like Sunday, but he rode solo for the final five of 10 laps. By placing fifth, Niels Vandeputte pinched the series lead from Lars van der Haar. The top Canadian was Liam Sargent in 59th.
Mol was supposed to be the first time that Matthew van der Poel and Wout van Aert met on a CX course this season but van Aert fell ill on Sunday.
Unfortunately, Wout van Aert has fallen ill and will not recover in time for tomorrow’s race in Mol. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action soon. pic.twitter.com/VEmb3EhGC3
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) December 22, 2024
Preliminaries
Laurens Sweeck won the last two rounds, but was nowhere close to the series lead. Neither were Joran Wyseure and Thibau Nys, victors of the other two rounds. Van der Haar was on top, although tied on points with Hulst World Cup victor Vandeputte. World Cup leader Michael Vanthourenhout was only a few points back and Eli Iserbyt 15 points in arrears. Van der Poel triumphed in last season’s Mol race when it was part of the Exact Series.
The Canadian contingent was Evan Russell, Liam Sargent and Fabian Merino.
Vandeputte led teammate van der Poel into the first corner. Teammates Laurens Sweeck and Joran Wyseure slipped by the world champion. On the sandy lakeside, the man in the rainbow jersey started to pick off the Crelan-Corendon riders. Filipe Orts charged to the front to yank a nontet over the line in 6:24. Sargent was the top Canadian in 54th.
As everyone concentrated on their sand skills, the string stayed long on Lap 2 with Vandeputte acting as its engine. Vanthourenhout surfed into Position 2. Iserbyt has been experiencing back problems, and he was on a rough ride.
Going into Lap 3 of 10, the front group was an octet, with Lander Loockx the surprise package. Van der Haar was very aware of Vanthourenhout at the pointy end of the race. The sun broke through the gloom and a rainbow was ominous for MvdP’s companions.
The rain wasn’t finished with the race. Van der Haar took the front in the sand and started to push on Lap 4. Van der Poel emerged from his cover and only Sweeck could…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…