Stop for Wout van Aert ! Invincible since the start of the season in the plowed fields, the Belgian had to put away his ambitions for the 8th consecutive victory at Hulst this Sunday. Blame it on a faulty chain at the very start of the race which knocked it down in the standings and lost precious seconds from the first lap.
Dropped by the best, stuck in the peloton on a course where overtaking is difficult, WWA, frustrated, tried to make up for its delay by grabbing a few places … before admitting defeat and ending this cross in freewheeling, in mode coaching, despite everything taking advantage of the last two laps to swallow a few more opponents and finish at the foot of the podium, in 4th place behind Lars van der Haar, 3e.
Ahead, two men tried to take advantage of van Aert’s misadventures: Tom Pidcock and Eli Iserbyt. First stuck behind the Belgian, the Briton accelerated the tempo to pass his opponent of the day, consolidate his 1st place despite the pressure from Iserbyt (+9 seconds only two laps from the end) and win to put end to the astonishing series of victories of van Aert in the plowed fields. Iserbyt can console himself by telling himself that with his 2nd place, he is guaranteed to win the general classification of the World Cup before the last two rounds.
Regarding Wout van Aert, his winter program foresees – in principle – two more cyclo-cross, that of the X2O Trophy in Herentals on Wednesday and that of the Belgian Championships next Sunday in Middelkerke.
WVA has so far always refused to give any indication as to its presence at the world championships in Fayetteville, United States, on January 30. An absence which would be very regrettable if necessary.