Mathieu van der Poel plays down Wout van Aert rivalry after victory in Mol – ‘It concerns people more than us’

Mathieu van der Poel played down his rivalry with Wout van Aert after coming out in top in their Exact Cross Zilvermeercross showdown in Mol.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider left Van Aert in his wake after the third of 10 laps, after the latter took the spoils on his first appearance of the cyclo-cross season in Essen earlier this month.

However, Van Aert dismissed any attempts to ramp up the hype surrounding his rivalry with the Jumbo-Visma rider, and believes the Belgian will continue to be a threat this season.

“Wout indicated that he is tackling the winter without being in the best shape. That seems smart to me in his case. I think he will definitely make it difficult for me in other races and sit at the front. He is going to win a few this season.”

The 28-year-old spoke in more detail about the race in general, and was pleased to continue his positive momentum after following up his season-debut victory at Herentals last Saturday.

“I felt very good,” he said. “I rode well through the sand and that was the most important thing here. Then you can quickly make a difference.

“I had organised my race and my round well. I was able to recover to ride error-free in the sand. And like I said, that’s the most important thing here. I enjoyed myself.”

Current world champion Van der Poel is aiming to win a sixth world title this season, and finished 1’16” ahead of Van Aert in second.

Behind Van der Poel and Van Aert was the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo of Niels Vandeputte and Quinten Hermans in third and fourth place respectively.

Van Aert and Van der Poel will go head-to-head again at the meeting in Antwerp on Saturday, and will be joined by Britain’s Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers.