Van der Poel (by trial and error) immediately hits again: this is the analysis from Alpecin-Deceuninck

The headline is off! Mathieu van der Poel is back in business and once again had a win ons his name. The cyclocross world champion put the Namen World Cup in his hand in deep finals, after an exciting duel with Thibau Nys, among others. IDLProCycling went by camp Van der Poel to make an analysis of his first cross.

Van der Poel did not start his race from the front row. From the midfield, the Dutchman advanced further and further and had already overtaken the majority of the pack on the first lap. After one lap, the seven-time world champion thus took control of the field. Four men then separated themselves from the rest, including, of course, Van der Poel.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider saw around him Lars van der Haar, Thibau Nys (both Baloise Glowi Lions) and Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw). 'I made the decision early on to wait until the end of the race to make my move,' Van der Poel told this website after the line, among other things.

'I guess that also has to do with the fact that he says, "I can't ride a whole cross alone up front here either,' Adrie van der Poel said. 'There's no need for that either. So I think it was a calculated victory.' In the end, Van der Poel pulled off the win, mainly because of Nys' "expensive mistake.

Adrie van der Poel, as father of son Mathieu, saw that things were fine on his seasonal debut. 'I think conditionally good, but no cross feeling. Of course you fall in like that, against riders who have been around for a while. So it's not the easiest course to start with, so I think he can be very satisfied.'

Whereas Van der Poel junior indicated in his reaction that he "still made a few mistakes here and there," Van der Poel senior knew why. 'His best lap was also the last lap, when he rode in the lead, of course. Then you only have to take one person into account, and that's yourself. Look, if you're fourth, you already have three chances that someone falls. For example, on the slant.'

Team boss Christoph Roodhooft agrees with father Adrie: "He rode a perfect last lap, which was enough actually. In all those other rounds there was something that was wrong, I thought. He sat a little too far,' Roodhooft thought. 'But anyway, he started. And it's not an easy course either,' Fleming is clear in his analysis.

In Antwerp, Van der Poel is back in the race, after which the 30-year-old is back in action three times in a row with Koksijde and Hofstade. Something that doesn't happen to him every winter, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything this winter. 'No, those crosses are just there on that calendar now. They are three beautiful crossen. Hofstade has been back for a long time," Roodhooft said.

'It's also a pretty busy year-end period right now this year. It's also close together,' the team manager continued. Just after Christmas, Van der Poel crosses again in Gavere to take a break over the weekend. On Monday, MVDP can then be seen again in Loenhout. 'It's also just how Christmas falls, of course,' Roodhooft concluded his explanation of his rider's upcoming cross country week.

There Van der Poel will undoubtedly battle again with Nys, who already kept him quite busy in Namen. Although father Adrie thinks Nys had his best chance in Namen. 'I also think of the crosses coming up that this is the best cross that suits Thibau Nys: short, explosive, and technical. Mathieu can do that too, but then he needs a cross or five.'