Midway through Sunday’s Elite Men’s World Cup Hoogerheide, it looked like Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Fenix) was facing a tough task with upwards of 11 riders in the lead group on a dry, fast course named for his father.
Then in Lap 6 of 10, Mathieu van der Poel did Mathieu van der Poel things, and a race that looked like it might go down to the last lap or two was over in a hot Dutch second.
Midway through that deciding sixth lap, Van der Poel unleashed his power on an uphill and quickly got a gap on Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal), who was sitting second wheel. Sweeck, Toon Aerts (Telenet Baloise Lions), Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) were unable to match the Flying Dutchman’s blistering pace, and at the end of that 6th lap, Van der Poel had a 6-second lead.
A lap later Van der Poel’s lead was up to 22 seconds, and Iserbyt and Aerts were left battling for second a week after their memorable race at Nommay for the win.
Van der Poel coasted the rest of the way to capture his 14th-straight win and 23rd of the season. The win also gives him 49 victories in his last 50 cyclocross races.
Aerts won the race for Top Belgian and in turn captured the World Cup overall. Iserbyt finished third.
Full results are below. Stay tuned for a race report.
Featured image: Bart Hazen
Elite Men Results: 2020 World Cup Hoogerheide
| Rank | BIB | Last Name | First Name | Country | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | VAN DER POEL | Mathieu | NED | 1:04:39 |
| 2 | 10 | AERTS | Toon | BEL | 1:05:17 |
| 3 | 11 | ISERBYT | Eli | BEL | 1:05:22 |
| 4 | 12 | VANTHOURENHOUT | Michael | BEL | 1:05:28 |
| 5 | 15 | MERLIER | Tim | BEL | 1:05:29 |
| 6 | 2 | VAN DER HAAR | Lars | NED | 1:05:29 |
| 7 | 61 | PIDCOCK | Thomas | GBR | 1:05:31 |
| 8 | 23 | VAN AERT | Wout | BEL | 1:05:32 |
| 9 | 9 | SWEECK | Laurens | BEL | 1:05:38 |
| 10 | 3 | VAN KESSEL | Corne | NED | 1:05:44 |
| 11 | 18 | MEEUSEN | Tom | BEL | 1:05:46 |
| 12 | 16 | ADAMS | Jens | BEL | 1:06:11 |
| 13 | 13 | HERMANS | Quinten | BEL | 1:06:21 |
| 14 | 4 | NIEUWENHUIS | Joris | NED | 1:06:35 |
| 15 | 5 | VAN DER POEL | David | NED | 1:06:53 |
| 16 | 14 | VERMEERSCH | Gianni | BEL | 1:07:04 |
| 17 | 29 | MEISEN | Marcel | GER | 1:07:08 |
| 18 | 8 | WOUTERS | Sieben | NED | 1:07:08 |
| 19 | 21 | BAESTAENS | Vincent | BEL | 1:07:10 |
| 20 | 34 | CHAINEL | Steve | FRA | 1:07:14 |
| 21 | 43 | ORTS LLORET | Felipe | ESP | 1:07:15 |
| 22 | 49 | RÜEGG | Timon | SUI | 1:07:16 |
| 23 | 47 | HYDE | Stephen | USA | 1:07:21 |
| 24 | 17 | AERTS | Thijs | BEL | 1:07:25 |
| 25 | 20 | AERNOUTS | Jim | BEL | 1:07:28 |
| 26 | 19 | SWEECK | Diether | BEL | 1:07:39 |
| 27 | 22 | VANTHOURENHOUT | Dieter | BEL | 1:07:46 |
| 28 | 35 | MENUT | David | FRA | 1:08:03 |
| 29 | 6 | GODRIE | Stan | NED | 1:08:14 |
| 30 | 25 | SOETE | Daan | BEL | 1:08:17 |
| 31 | 7 | VAN DER HEIJDEN | Maik | NED | 1:08:22 |
| 32 | 46 | WHITE | Curtis | USA | 1:08:47 |
| 33 | 55 | BORO | Michael | CZE | 1:08:51 |
| 34 | 50 | ZAHNER | Simon | SUI | 1:08:57 |
| 35 | 28 | BOSMANS | Wietse | BEL | 1:09:16 |
| 36 | 26 | LOOCKX | Lander | BEL | 1:09:18 |
| 37 | 27 | MERLIER | Braam | BEL | 1:09:18 |
| 38 | 37 | GRAS | Yan | FRA | 1:09:22 |
| 39 | 36 | DUBAU | Joshua | FRA | 1:09:28 |
| 40 | 58 | VAN DEN HAM | Michael | CAN | 1:09:57 |
| 41 | 24 | CLEPPE | Nicolas | BEL | 1:10:10 |
| 42 | 53 | SÄGESSER | Severin | SUI | 1:10:30 |
| 43 | 45 | WERNER | Kerry | USA | 1:11:15 |
| 44 | 57 | NESVADBA | Jan | CZE | LAP |
| 45 | 44 | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ | Kevin | ESP | LAP |
| 46 | 38 | DUBAU | Lucas | FRA | LAP |
| 47 | 60 | SAMPARISI | Nicolas | ITA | LAP |
| 48 | 51 | WILDHABER | Marcel | SUI | LAP |
| 49 | 54 | MOTTIEZ | Gilles | SUI | LAP |
| 50 | 64 | HEIGL | Philipp | AUT | LAP |
| 51 | 48 | COLLINS | Patrick | USA | LAP |
| 52 | 59 | JETTE | Cameron | CAN | LAP |
| 53 | 42 | VAZ | Lucas | FRA | LAP |
| 54 | 62 | GLAJZA | Ondrej | SVK | LAP |
| 55 | 32 | EDHOFER | Thomas | GER | LAP |
| 56 | 33 | PAUL | Felix | GER | LAP |
