Starting from the fourth row, Van Aert quickly moved up a few spots in the early meters, putting him in Van der Poel’s wake. On the second lap, Van Aert, who had started very strongly, boldly took over the lead but had to chase Van der Poel after a crash. In the following laps, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider gave it his all and managed to keep the gap limited, but he could not get any closer to his rival.

“I was maybe a little too eager,” Van Aert said afterward. “I was keen to get to the front quickly, and when I attacked on the second lap, I made a stupid mistake, which allowed Mathieu to quickly ride away. I felt like today was a day to battle it out, so that’s a little disappointing. Without those crashes, I could have been closer and made it a long fight, I think. But in the end, I made the best of it and still managed to ride a good race.”

With victories in Gullegem and Dendermonde, Van Aert can look back on his cyclocross season with satisfaction, though he still feels a bit sad because it went by so quickly. “I think it’s a shame that the cross season flew by so fast. For years, I had long cyclocross seasons, and I always enjoyed them immensely, partly because of the incredible fans. But my main goals are now on the road, so I have to be smart about it. However, there will definitely be cyclocross winters in the future where I’ll compete in many more races again.”