Not everyone is happy about Van der Poel's return to cyclo-cross: "There was nothing to see in the race"

"Everyone is happy he’s back, but the way he dominated in Zonhoven on Sunday was a bit of a blow," Wellens wrote in his column. "When I saw him pull away after just over a minute, I thought, ‘damn.’ His supremacy is hugely impressive, but it left nothing to see in the race itself." He emphasized that Van der Poel’s power is remarkable but added, "it’s not good for the excitement of the sport that Mathieu is back."

In Zonhoven, Van der Poel passed everyone within the first minute and was leading solo in no time. "That’s just not fun, especially for the people paying 25 euros entrance fee to watch, but then there's no real battle. In Mol, he held back for 25 minutes, and that created some excitement — or at least gave the illusion of it." Laurens Sweeck briefly stayed with him in the Zilvermeercross but was eventually dropped and finished more than a minute behind the Dutchman.

Now, all eyes are on the return of Wout van Aert, who will make his cyclo-cross comeback in Loenhout. Wellens hopes Van Aert will immediately be competitive. "But the big question is what level he’ll be at. Will he actually be able to duel with Mathieu, or will he be at the level of the other cyclo-cross riders? He’s downplaying expectations, but Mathieu also said he’d only been on his cyclo-cross bike twice, and he put everyone two minutes behind him."

"On Friday in Loenhout, we’ll quickly see where Wout really stands. I hope we’ll see duels between Wout and Mathieu. That those two, who have elevated each other’s careers, fight it out to the finish line for the win — that would be the best Christmas gift for all the fans attending cyclo-cross races during the holidays. But honestly, seeing how Mathieu is racing now, that’s going to be tough."