Van der Haar secures podium thanks to Van Aert’s devastating attack: "Didn’t even look where the path ended"

Following the Dutch National Championships in Oisterwijk, the Netherlands, Van der Haar had told us: "It’s always nice to train in warmer weather again. I’m heading to Spain with Pim for a week of lighter endurance training, with Benidorm as part of that training. After a week like that, you never know if you’ll feel good or bad," he said in the chilly Netherlands.

"Making real progress at this point in the winter is very difficult. It’s more about preventing decline," he explained in the days leading up to the Benidorm World Cup. "I managed three really good training days. The weather wasn’t ideal overall, but the first few days of the week were fine. I had one tough training session that went very well, so all in all, things were good."

The race in Benidorm must have been a very good training session, right, Lars? "It was a bit unexpected for me as well. It's what I've been saying for a while now: the legs feel good, but it just hasn’t been coming together. This time, everything clicked: I had a good start, maintained it, and the entire race unfolded well. The pace was steady, which allowed me to deliver a good result. I didn’t expect to make the podium because I’ve never really done well on such a fast course."

"Did I feel it right away? That’s always hard to say because you never know who’s going to attack or how long they’ll last. I felt strong, especially uphill, although I really suffered in the final lap while I was on Wout’s wheel," Van der Haar grinned. This was clear to see on the big screens in Benidorm, where the Dutch terrier clung to the wheel of the yellow-and-black powerhouse from Belgium.

"You have to follow," Van der Haar explained, sharing his thoughts in the moment. "I didn’t even look to see where the end of the path was. I thought: I’ll just hang on, and it will work out, because I know I can do it. Then I launched my own attack, not expecting to get a gap. But I saw Wout coming, he joined the group a little too late, and we were able to box him in slightly. That forced him to ride the entire climb at full effort, which allowed us to then beat him in the sprint to the finish."

"I knew we had to focus on Thibau in the finale because I could never have beaten Eli over the barriers," Van der Haar continued, explaining how he made the right tactical choices even at full intensity. "I also knew I shouldn’t keep riding with Eli, so it was a matter of watching what Thibau would do and anticipating that. I’m happy I still managed to grab a podium spot."

For Van der Haar, it was a significant morale boost to still be in contention at that stage of the race. "I already felt good during the Christmas period, but at that point, things never really came together. Even then, I came out of that period stronger, and maybe that made the difference today," the Dutchman said. "Things also didn’t go my way, partly due to some bad luck. Nothing seemed to click, but now I hope to carry this momentum forward. This result is very satisfying, especially compared to last year. Back then, I was completely spent here, and now I’m on the podium."

"What’s the difference this time? Because of my knee injury, I had to skip parts of the Christmas period. That wasn’t fun, but in the end, maybe that made all the difference," he concluded.