Van Aert was off to a good start but van der Poel went clear during the second lap and never looked back. In the end, he won by 23 seconds. Tom Pidcock finished eighth after a disappointing start.
When asked after the race if he made any mistake, Van der Poel laughed: “Not that I can recall, so that’s a good thing. I felt good, I was able to get a good gap, maintain it and I am pretty happy with today.
“I need to be better in the future as Wout will be getting better,” van der Poel added. “There will be a few really nice races in the busy [Christmas] period.”
“When Mathieu was attacking he was way too fast, so I understood that I should focus on the second place,” Wout van Aert said.
“I feel way better than I expected to before. My pace during the race was quite steady, which was a good thing and from this, we will try to build up, get the accelerations in. It’s a super starting point for me.”
Will Wout van Aert catch up to van der Poel’s form? What do you think?
Cyclocross World Cup Antwerp 2022 results
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 59:04
2. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) + 23 seconds
3. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen Bingoal) + 34 seconds
4. Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) + 45 seconds
5. Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) + 54 seconds
6. Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen Bingoal) + 1:05
7. Jens Adams (Hollebeekhoeve CT) + 1:09
8. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) + 1:14
9. Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) + 1:45
10. Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Fristads) + 2:05
