{"id":191955,"date":"2023-02-06T15:38:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T15:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=191955"},"modified":"2023-02-06T15:38:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T15:38:14","slug":"the-thrilling-cyclocross-world-championship-duel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/02\/06\/the-thrilling-cyclocross-world-championship-duel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thrilling Cyclocross World Championship Duel"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the history of competitive cycling is written, there should be a separate chapter devoted solely to the fierce competition between Belgian Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin\u2013Deceuninck. Both men are 28 years old, both ride in multiple disciplines, both are among the best cyclists in the world and they have been racing against each other \u2013 in MTB, cyclocross and road racing \u2013 since they were teens.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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So it was only right and just that the 2023 UCI Cyclocross Elite Men\u2019s World Championship, held Sunday in the Dutch village of Hoogerheide, turned into a thrilling mano a mano between the two that the Cyclocross<\/em> magazine rightly called<\/a> \u201ca duel for the ages.\u201d That the 10-lap race was not decided until the sprint finish, 1 hour, 7 minutes, 20 seconds after the start, and that van der Poel won because van Aert made a simple tactical error, tells you all you need to know about the kind of nail-biter the race was.<\/p>\n

The strategy of the Dutch team was to turn it into a two-man race, and van der Poel\u2019s teammate Lars van der Haar set a blistering pace in the first lap until he and the two favourites had distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Van der Haar then dropped back \u2013 he would finish a brave fourth \u2013 and van Aert and van der Poel spent the rest of the race alone with each other.<\/p>\n

The gap to the field was 8 seconds after the first lap. It would grow to as much as 23 seconds and then decrease again as the two leaders fought a tense tactical battle all the way to the end. Fortunately, for the riders, the course had dried out overnight \u2013 it had been damp and muddy for the Elite Women\u2019s Championship race the previous day \u2013 and all the two riders had to contend with were deep ruts, tricky corners and each other.<\/p>\n

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This crowd. \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n

Thank you, Hoogerheide. \ud83d\ude4c#Hoogerheide2023<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YmK4uG0OwQ<\/a><\/p>\n

— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n