2023 X²O Trofee Herentals featured an intense battle between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).
Unfortunately, Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) was injured in the last race in Baal and had to skip Herentals.
A crash crushed the chances of world champ @tompidcock in the final lap #X2ObadkamersTrofee #GPSvenNys #veldrijden pic.twitter.com/aeePx32coQ
— X²O Badkamers Trofee (@X2OTrofee) January 1, 2023
2023 UCI World Cup Gavere winner, Van Der Poel coasted his way to victory after Van Aert suffered a late-race puncture just as he was passing the pits. However, Van der Poel did not celebrate the victory with his usual flare after his rival’s mechanical.
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2023 Superprestige Diegem winner, Van Aert finished second after the devasting late-race puncture. He shook his head in disappointment as he watched his rival speed off.
🎙 Van der Poel: 'Ik had Wout liever geklopt zonder die lekke band'#X2OBadkamersTrofee #HerentalsCrosst #cyclocross #veldrijden pic.twitter.com/sA2hjATotW
— X²O Badkamers Trofee (@X2OTrofee) January 3, 2023
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) January 3, 2023
2022 UCI World Cup Hulst runner-up, Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) podiumed after a hard battle with Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions).
3️⃣rd place for @IserbytEli in Herentals!💪🏼🔴#FightToTheFinish
📸 https://t.co/D5Ck2KCrLK pic.twitter.com/qL5grsWhMH— Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal (@PS_BG_CT) January 3, 2023
Mathieu van der Poel haalde het voor Wout van Aert in Herentals Cross, maar had de finale graag anders zien verlopen #X2OBadkamersTrofee #Herentalscrossthttps://t.co/2Ar6EueU6m
— X²O Badkamers Trofee (@X2OTrofee) January 3, 2023
Van der Poel was gracious in victory, lamenting the way he won:
“I would indeed have preferred to beat him without a flat tire,” he said afterwards. “I rode something different from the previous races. I wanted to save a little more for that last half lap. Anyway, we were very evenly matched again. I wanted to dive into that last technical part first, but I think Wout already had a leak at that time. It’s a pity that we didn’t have a fair fight because of that.” (translated)
Enjoy over 10 minutes of highlights and last-lap footage provided by All Cycling.
2023 X²O Trofee Herentals Elite Men Highlights
2023 X²O Trofee Herentals Elite Men Last Lap
Five Americans attended the race.
- Curtis White finished in 13th.
- Ben Frederick got 28th.
- Casey Hildebrandt followed suit with 29th.
- Matthew Graham-O’Regan came in 33rd.
- Frederick Junge finished in 38th.
No Canadians attended the race.
See full results below.
2023 X²O Trofee Herentals Race Results - Elite Men
| Position | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 59:45:00 |
| 2 | VAN AERT Wout | 0:21 | |
| 3 | ISERBYT Eli | PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | 0:31 |
| 4 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 0:32 |
| 5 | MASON Cameron | TRINITY RACING CROSS | 0:49 |
| 6 | RONHAAR Pim | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 1:16 |
| 7 | ADAMS Jens | 1:22 | |
| 8 | HERMANS Quinten | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 1:38 |
| 9 | MERLIER Tim | 2:24 | |
| 10 | SOETE Daan | DESCHACHT - HENS - MAES | 2:39 |
| 11 | AERTS Thijs | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | 3:29 |
| 12 | LOOCKX Lander | DESCHACHT - HENS - MAES | 3:34 |
| 13 | WHITE Curtis | 3:40 | |
| 14 | BEKAERT Yentl | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 3:58 |
| 15 | VERMEERSCH Gianni | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 4:26 |
| 16 | KIELICH Timo | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 4:27 |
| 17 | KOPECKY Matyas | 4:42 | |
| 18 | ARENSMAN Thymen | 5:04 | |
| 19 | GROENEN Klaas | 5:30 | |
| 20 | WUYTS Mathijs | 5:59 | |
| 21 | ROMBOUTS Seppe | 6:16 | |
| 22 | PEMEN Dolf | 6:32 | |
| 23 | DANIEL Thibault | TEAM FIMA - RDV BIKESHOP ALIAN | 6:52 |
| 24 | GILLES Cyprien | 7:21 | |
| 25 | VERHEYEN Thomas | 7:23 | |
| 26 | CAREME Grégory | 7:33 | |
| 27 | VAN STAEYEN Maarten | ||
| 28 | FREDERICK Ben | ||
| 29 | HILDEBRANDT Casey | ||
| 30 | WEATHERILL William | HOPE FACTORY RACING | |
| 31 | GEBELE Julian | ||
| 32 | JAMES Alexander | ||
| 33 | GRAHAM-O'REGAN Matthew | ||
| 34 | PERICAS FIGUERAS Arnau | ||
| 35 | NYSTROM SPENCER Felipe Timoteo | ||
| 36 | JANSMAN Emiel | ||
| 37 | KAJI Tetsuki | ||
| 38 | JUNGE Frederick | ||
| 39 | HEYMES Gauthier | ||
| 40 | CHASTAGNER Francois | ||
| DNF | VERMEERSCH Florian | ||
| DNF | VAN KESSEL Corné |
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