Mathieu van der Poel won the 10th stage of the Cyclo-cross World Cup on Tuesday in Gavre, Belgium, his fourth victory of the season in four appearances, ahead of his eternal rival the Belgian Wout Van Aert. The Dutchman dominated the race from start to finish, to the point of pushing a competitor taking photos with the public when overtaking him on the third lap of the race.
Ascent of Pidcok
The reigning double world champion on the road and in cyclo-cross was able to control his lead on the extremely muddy course with passages in the undergrowth to finish 36 seconds ahead of Van Aert and almost a minute before the Briton Tom Pidcock. It’s the same podium as in 2022, with almost the same gaps.
Pidcock, long away from third place, made a spectacular comeback during the last three laps, despite a few errors and falls, to finish a handful of seconds ahead of the Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis. The Briton won the Namur stage in mid-December, in the absence of the two other big names in the discipline. The three great rivals meet on Saturday for the 11th round of the World Cup in Hulst in the Netherlands.