Wout van Aert beat Mathieu van der Poel in a direct duel on Tuesday in the Superprestige cyclo-cross at Heusden-Zolder. The Belgian won the final sprint from the two favourites, after Van der Poel was hit by the pedal. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado triumphed among women.
Van der Poel and Van Aert quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field. World champion Tom Pidcock, who was able to join the pair for a long time at the World Cup competition in Gavere in Belgium on Monday, also had to switch quickly.
The Dutchman and the Belgian have always tried to outdo each other, but both have never managed to get far from each other. A final sprint resulted in the decision and it was won by Van Aert. Van der Poel finished second in six seconds.
Van der Poel was still too strong for Van Aert on Monday in the World Cup race at Gavere. The Dutchman crossed the finish line solo after a titanic battle with Van Aert and Pidcock.
A cross to Diegem is expected on Wednesday. The races are all dedicated to the cyclo-cross world championships, which will end at Hoogerheide in the Netherlands on February 5th.
Alvarado defeats his compatriots
Alvarado won the women’s race after nearly missing the start for unclear reasons. She got to the finish line on her bike just in time when the starting shot sounded. The 24-year-old Dutch eventually crossed the finish line alone, staying ahead of Inge van der Heijden (second) and Lucinda Brand (third).
Not Alvarado, but the preferred Brand showed itself more in the opening phase. After the first round he was with a group of seven riders, including Alvarado, Denise Betsema and Annemarie Worst. Brand appeared to be wasting time with a technical problem, after which Van der Heijden, Alvarado and Betsema punched a hole.
Together with the Italian Silvia Persico, Brand closed in, but Van der Heijden and the strong Alvarado set off again moments later. Not long after, Alvarado shrugged off her compatriot and drove solo to her third win of the season.
“In the first two rounds I had a difficult time and I held on. There were holes and I had to close them all the time. But when the differences got bigger, I was the strongest left,” the winner told Eurosport.
In Superprestige, Alvarado is now just one point behind Betsema (68 to 67). Van der Heijden follows with 65 points.
