Wout van Aert wins with ease in Heusden-Zolder, Mathieu van der Poel knows offday
Monday, December 27, 2021 at 4:08 PM
Wout van Aert has put the cross in Heusden-Zolder behind his name with playful ease. The Belgian dominated from start to finish and crossed the line more than a minute ahead of Eli Iserbyt and Tom Pidcock.
Not only the battle between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert was interesting to follow on Monday in Heusden-Zolder. The duel between Eli Iserbyt and Toon Aerts also proved worthwhile, if only because Iserbyt started this penultimate round in the Superprestige with only two points ahead of Aerts.
This game took place in the shadow of the cross, because Van Aert had a more than excellent start in the Belgian town. After one round, the Belgian champion threw Aerts and Quinten Hermans overboard, after which he started a lonely journey to the finish. A group with Pidcock and Van der Poel was already half a minute away from the Belgian after twenty minutes.
Van Aert plays with the opposition and wins, Van der Poel gets off
Remarkably enough, the cyclocross rider of Alpecin-Fenix was the first to let go in that group, which included Kevin Kuhn, Corne van Kessel, Laurens Sweeck, Aerts, Iserbyt and Pidcock. Did Van der Poel have a bad day? Or was there something else going on? How MVDP rode around the rest of the cross betrayed that first. He would eventually get off the finish line at three laps.
MVDP is having a hard time – photo: Cor Vos
Meanwhile, Van Aert had continued to fly. Unthreatened, he rode to victory in Heusden-Zolder. At the finish, his lead was more than a minute – a light-year on a fast course like the one in Heusden-Zolder. After five crosses, Van Aert is still unbeaten.
The battle for the last two podium places was fought by Hermans, Pidcock and Iserbyt. The Briton of INEOS Grenadiers would pull the longest straw. Iserbyt did good business for the Superprestige with his third place, because Aerts only finished fifth.
Superprestige Heusden-Zolder
Results men
1. Wout van Aert
2. 
Tom Pidcock
3. Eli Iserbyt
4. Quinten Hermans
5. Show Aerts
6. 
Corne van Kessel
7. Laurens Sweeck
8. 
Kevin Kuhn
9. Tim Merlier
10. Lars van der Haar
