Top favorite, but suddenly Van der Poel faces a tough new rival in Van Aert: "I’m a bit shocked"

Afterward, the world champion talked about his race in the flash interview. "As I said before the start, I like these conditions; it doesn't have to be so fast. I'm happy with the feeling, especially after yesterday. I'm well recovered and feel good.' After only two minutes, he took the lead. 'I had the intention to start a little calmer. But I immediately had a gap at the end of the first lap, and it's such a tough race that it's just pace riding from start to finish. So I continued riding well for another hour to reap the benefits next week."

Along the way, Van der Poel had plenty of time to put on a show. For example, he entertained the crowd with powerful intermediate sprints on the start-finish strip. "The wind was against me on that last stretch. I could launch myself at the bottom, which helped." He also threw out beautiful jumps on the bridge. "I had fun," he said with a smile. "I'm happy with the result of the hard work in Spain. This is a cyclo-cross race I really enjoy riding. I'm happy with the feeling: on to next week."

So, it's a good feeling despite the still broken rib. "It didn't get in the way, although I still feel it," the winner commented. "But it won't slow me down next week. I'm on track and looking forward to next week."

The trouble began with the rib in Loenhout, where the Dutch rider collided with a pole. Three days later, in Besançon, he still won the World Cup but skipped the cyclo-cross race afterward. "Yes, I don't understand that myself," VDP told IDLProCycling.com, among others, when asked how he managed to win there.

"They seem to think it only broke completely in Besançon and that it was cracked in Loenhout. It wasn't until the last two laps in Besançon that I started to suffer. On the way home, I told Christoph (Roodhooft, ed.) that racing was difficult and that I was starting to suffer. He was still half laughing about it, but I had already sensed it was fairly serious."

This is shown when Van der Poel explains that the rib hurt quite a bit. "Yes, quite a bit. Especially with coughing and sitting up affected me for the first two weeks. On the bike, it was reasonably okay, so that was fortunate. In Spain, I already felt I could do everything. I didn't worry about failing a World Cup; I could do everything, but it wasn't pleasant."

The rib still has a week to recover before the upcoming World Championships, and the rider hopes to be a little fresher. "I may have the best papers, but a race must always be completed. We must compete for one hour, so I keep both feet on the ground."

Even a big winner like Van der Poel is unsure of his case. "I have lost championships in the past, when I also won here. I think I have good papers. I'm confident, but a race always has to be run."

So, will there be scenarios where Van der Poel will not become a world champion? "Sure, something can go wrong in the start. I will not be satisfied until I am officially celebrated as world champion after an hour, hopefully."

Suddenly, all this became a little less simple as Wout van Aert announced Sunday night that he would participate in the World Championship in France after all. Van der Poel was surprised by his rival's choice. "He is normally not someone who changes his plans quickly. It scared me a bit," Van der Poel said in front of the Sporza microphone. 'But it's always fun to compete against someone like that. I'm looking forward to it."

He expects the Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike to be able to compete for the win right to the end. "It will probably be another battle.' But he does not want to say he will change his action plan, although nothing has changed for me. Wout will just be my most prominent challenger; that's been proven in the past."