On Saturday in Antwerp, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert will look into each other’s eyes for the first time this season. However, Paul Herygers fears that there will be no duel.
Three more sleeps and Wout van Aert will be at the start of a cross for the first time since the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Liévin on February 2. And he can immediately compete against his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel.
Duel Van der Poel-Van Aert in Antwerp
The world champion made his return last Sunday in Namur. He did not dominate, Van der Poel waited until the last round to strike. It raised hopes for a duel with Van Aert in Antwerp.
However, Paul Herygers suppresses that hope and thinks that Van der Poel will not wait for half a cross. He warns the other riders, including Van Aert, to prepare for the worst.
Herygers doesn’t see anyone beating Van der Poel
“Everyone now hopes that he can be caught, but on a course that suits him completely, such as in Antwerp, and where he cannot meet himself, he is not going to wait,” says Herygers at CyclingFlits.
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For Van der Poel, only the World Cup is a goal, but according to Herygers, he wants to win all his crosses, just like last season, and the other crossers will fight for second place in Antwerp. “I think he will be 100 percent on those kinds of rounds.”
