Mathieu van der Poel makes no secret of his regrets

A problem during the sprint forced the Class ’95 runner to settle for second place

It was a far from radiant Mathieu van der Poel who commented on second place in the fifth round of the Superprestige 2022/23, in Zolder: in fact, the 1995-class rider was beaten by rival Wout van Aert, who took advantage of a problem of his opponent during the sprint.

“I tried to make a difference in the last part, but it didn’t go well,” Van der Poel said on the sidelines of the race. “We got to the sprint after Van Aert resisted a couple of my attempts, which didn’t bear fruit. Then, in the sprint, I was unlucky because I lost my pedal.”

“It’s really a pity I couldn’t express myself in the final sprint,” added the Belgian. “Hopefully I will do better tomorrow. On Wednesday, the Superprestige will see the cyclocross riders engaged in Diegem; the last two tests will be held instead in Gullegem on January 7 and in Middelkerke on the 11th of the same month.