Mathieu van der Poel defeats Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock to Gavere World Cup Boxing Day win

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won a tricky race at the cyclo-cross World Cup event in Gavere on Monday from Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

The big three broke away early in the race, before Van der Poel and Pidcock traded the lead.

Van der Pel broke away in the final two laps to win in a time of 57:14 which was his third win of the season.

“I just really wanted to win,” Van der Poel said at the finish. “In Mol [Exact Cross on Friday] I was not really satisfied, but I was determined to do a good result today.”

“I think a lot of factors [decided the race]. This course is really hard but also technical. For me, at least, it was a really nice race, I enjoyed it, lots of people. I’m happy with my victory.”

Pidcock appeared to run out of steam as Van Aert overtook him to finish second, 27 seconds behind Van der Poel.

The trio were a minute ahead of the rest of the field which was led by Michael Vanthourenhout

The cyclo-cross season will run until February as a winter complement to the road cycling season.

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