Mathieu van der Poel wins on cyclo-cross return, Tom Pidcock crashes out with broken wheel in Hulst World Cup

ByBen Southby

Updated 27/11/2022 at 15:21 GMT

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) dominated the pack to take first place on his cyclo-cross return on Sunday, while World Champion Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) was cruising to second place but suffered a heavy crash on the final lap causing his back wheel to break. "It feels pretty good," Van der Poel said at the finish. "It's been a long while since I've won a cyclo-cross race."

Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Mathieu van der Poel took centre stage with a dominant cyclo-cross display at the Hulst World Cup on Sunday, winning his first race in almost two years, while Britain's world champion Tom Pidcock crashed out.

Pidcock had been closing in on a second-place finish behind Van der Poel but was forced out of the race when his wheel buckled on the final lap after hitting the deck.

The Briton was unable to remount his bike, as the rainbow jersey left the course early without managing to finish in a disastrous conclusion for the INEOS Grenadier.

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A handful of technical errors slowed Van der Poel’s early progress as he tried to find his rhythm on his return, but after taking the lead on the fourth lap, he would not be caught.

"It feels pretty good," Van der Poel said at the finish. "It's been a long while since I've won a cyclo-cross race, last year was not a good season. I can't even call it a season because I did one and a half cyclo-cross races due to the back issue.

“Like I said I felt pretty good, I had a good preparation coming towards Hulst and I'm really happy with the shape, technically I made a lot of mistakes but I think that's normal.

"I'm happy to be back but there's still some work to do to be at my top level. But I can only be really happy with today,” he added.

Dutch champion Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) attacked from the line to take an early lead as Van der Poel found his bearings.

Pidcock and Van der Poel threatened Van der Haar and quickly moved into the top five, as Van der Poel sped past Van der Haar and Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) as the riders passed the pits for the first time.

'An absolutely stunning ride' - Van der Poel powers to victory at Hulst World Cup

Van der Poel conceded the first of a few mistakes when he came off on an off-camber section, but quickly climbed back into third position.

Pidcock, Van der Haar, Iserbyt, Van der Poel, Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) and Michael Vantourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) emerged as front runners on the second lap, as Van der Poel made a second mistake and slipped to seventh.

'He's snapped the rim!' - Pidcock abandons with broken wheel at Hulst World Cup

He managed to close on the leaders and found his way back to third as Pidcock led the pack in another strong display after , riding alongside Sweeck as the pair edged a few seconds ahead of their competitors.

Van der Poel quickly found more determination as he pressed on, overtaking Sweeck before also catching Pidcock at the halfway point.

He gained ten seconds on Pidcock as he took full control of the race, and after Pidcock’s demise, the Dutchman had no real competition as he romped home for his first win in almost two years.

Sweeck’s second-place finish helped him to overtake Iserbyt in the overall standings and he will wear the leader's jersey at the next round in Antwerp next week.

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