Wout van Aert overcomes towel in wheel to claim cyclo-cross World Cup win in Dublin, Tom Pidcock on podium

Wout van Aert’s second cyclo-cross race of the season proved to be a winning one, but success in the Dublin World Cup event was not without alarm.

The Belgian ultimately ran out a comfortable winner after breaking clear from Laurens Sweeck on the final lap.

But he found himself behind early on due to a mechanical and also getting a towel stuck in his wheel.

Van Aert is a master of his art and did not panic, as he picked his way through the field and got in a breakaway group of seven.

Going into the final lap in cold, muddy conditions, the Belgian stepped on the gas and broke the spirit of his rivals.

Sweeck gave chase to his fellow Belgian but was 14 seconds adrift of his fellow countryman at the line.

“It was a really hard race for me, especially mentally,” Van Aert said. “I had to fight my way into the race because at the start I was missing a bit and also a bit too far back in the positioning.

“I had this mechanical and it was a long race. The course was so tough and happy I could make a difference.“

Tom Pidcock made a big push for victory and went clear with two laps to go, but he could not maintain the pace and fell back after being reeled in.

The Brit rallied on the final lap to claim a place on the podium, and said he only had one pace despite making a push for victory.

“It was very strange,” Pidcock said. “The group was so big, there wasn’t really a place to make a difference.

“It was not how I expected it and I knew in the last lap I had to fight to get on the podium.

“I tried to ride faster, but could not. I was at the same pace the whole race.

“The group was big and I gave my best and don’t think I could have ridden much faster. It was a tough course.”