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Mathieu van der Poel Aims for Peak Performance at World Championships in Title Defense
Mathieu van der Poel clinched a comfortable win at X2O Trofee Hamme-Flandriencross, marking his 11th victory of the season as he gears up for the upcoming World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. The reigning World Champion and Alpecin-Deceuninck rider accelerated away from the competition midway through the Flandriencross, securing a decisive win. Van der Poel expressed his hope to be in peak form as he looks to defend his title at the World Championships next week.
“After two good weeks of training in Spain, it was quite OK,” said Mathieu van der Poel following his 160th victory as an elite cyclist. “I felt I did a lot of work, so hopefully, I’ll have my best legs next week.” Van der Poel is aiming for peak performance as he seeks to defend his world title in the upcoming World Championships. He secured his fifth world title in a thrilling race against Wout van Aert last year.
In a brief skirmish on Saturday, the current world champion, Mathieu van der Poel, faced off against Michael Vanthourenhout. The Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal rider was the only one able to match Van der Poel’s acceleration initially. However, he couldn’t maintain the pace for long, and Van der Poel quickly opened up a 16-second lead on the slippery course, ultimately securing the victory. Vanthourenhout expressed his satisfaction, stating, “It’s not easy to stay on the wheel [of Van der Poel], so I’m very happy,” after the race.
In the battle for the last spot on the podium, Eli Iserbyt from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, a teammate of Michael Vanthourenhout, competed with Niels Vandeputte of Alpecin-Decueninck. Despite the contest, Iserbyt managed to hold off the Belgian rider and finished 35 seconds behind the winner, Mathieu van der Poel.
In the women’s race at X2O Trofee Hamme-Flandriencross, Fem van Empel secured a dominant victory, marking her 16th win of the season. Riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, the reigning world champion established control from the beginning, creating an 11-second gap on the first lap. Van Empel extended her lead to 25 seconds on the second lap, ultimately securing victory with a lead of over a minute.
Expressing her satisfaction after the race, Van Empel stated, “I felt very good today, and I am very happy with that. I just wanted to ride at my own pace. This is a treacherous circuit, with all those tracks, so it is an advantage if you can ride alone. Halfway through the race, I heard the speaker announce the time difference. From then on, it was just a matter of keeping a good pace.” Lucinda Brand from WorldTeam Lidl–Trek finished second, while Manon Bakker from Team Fenix–Deceuninck secured the final spot on the podium.
