Hoogstraten: Van der Poel, De Boer win penultimate Superprestige round

Less than 24 hours after claiming the final DVV Trophy race at the Krawatencross in Lille, 2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships silver medalist Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) once again found himself battling wheel-for-wheel with two-time world champion Wout van Aert (Crelan-Charles) over the mud-covered penultimate Superprestige round in Hoogstraten, Belgium on Sunday.

Unlike last week’s world championship race in Luxembourg where Van der Poel found himself on the short end behind Van Aert after sustaining several race-altering flats, the 22-year-old Dutchman and 2015 world champion was able to fend off his Belgian rival to claim his second win in as many days.

“Again, it was an exciting race where a lot was going on,” Van der Poel told Belgian network Telenet Play Sports. “It was a very tough course to race on.”

With only one round remaining, Van der Poel leads Van Aert by five points in the Superprestige series with only one race remaining in Middelkerke, Belgium.

“Last year, Wout had a problem with his derailleur. That can happen to me as well,” he explained. “The classification is only decided when you cross the line in Middelkerke.”

In women’s action, Sophie de Boer (Breepark), who finished fourth in the final round of the IJsboerke Ladies Trophy behind surprise winner Maud Kaptheijns (Steylaerts-Verona) at Krawatencross on Saturday, took top honors in Hoogstraten followed by Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team) and Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions).

“Today was the first mud cross of the season,” De Boer said after the race. “I like these races the most and really wanted to win.”

The final two rounds of the Superprestige series are awarded double points with the two worst results dropped for general classification. De Boer currently sits third on points (57) behind Van Loy in second (70) and recently crowned world champion Sanne Cant (IKO Enertherm-Beobank) in first (99) with one round remaining.

Men’s results

• 1. Mathieu VAN DER POEL, (NED), in 1:02:34
• 2. Wout VAN AERT, (BEL), at 1:02:40
• 3. Kevin PAUWELS, (BEL), at 1:02:50
• 4. Laurens SWEECK, (BEL), at 1:03:52
• 5. Corne VAN KESSEL, (NED), at 1:04:07
• 6. Tom MEEUSEN, (BEL), at 1:04:20
• 7. Vincent BAESTAENS, (BEL), at 1:04:38
• 8. Jim AERNOUTS, (BEL), at 1:04:39
• 9. Lars VAN DER HAAR, (NED), at 1:04:48
• 10. Jens ADAMS, (BEL), at 1:04:58
• 11. Wietse BOSMANS, (BEL), at 1:05:17
• 12. Klaas VANTORNOUT, (BEL), at 1:05:26
• 13. Gianni VERMEERSCH, (BEL), at 1:05:33
• 14. Rob PEETERS, (BEL), at 1:05:43
• 15. Tim MERLIER, (BEL), at 1:05:59
• 16. Joeri ADAMS, (BEL), at 1:06:06
• 17. Yorben VAN TICHELT, (BEL), at 1:06:43
• 18. Michael BOROŠ, (CZE), at 1:06:50
• 19. Julien TARAMARCAZ, (SUI), at 1:06:50
• 20. Braam MERLIER, (BEL), at 1:07:01
• 21. Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE, (BEL), at 1:07:21
• 22. Jan DENUWELAERE, (BEL), at 1:07:41
• 23. Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ, (ESP), at 1:07:49
• 24. Patrick VAN LEEUWEN, (NED), at 1:07:57
• 25. Marcel MEISEN, (GER), at 1:08:01
• 26. Stan GODRIE, (NED), at 1:08:07
• 27. Bart HOFMAN, (BEL), at 1:08:13
• 28. Thijs VAN AMERONGEN, (NED), at 1:08:18
• 29. Daan HOEYBERGHS, (BEL), at 1:08:35
• 30. Aitor HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ, (ESP), at 1:08:37
• 31. Michael VAN DEN HAM, (CAN), at 1:08:43
• 32. David VAN DER POEL, (NED), at 1:08:51
• 33. Niels WUBBEN, (NED)
• 34. Jeremy MARTIN, (CAN)
• 35. Kerry WERNER, (USA)
• 36. Mariusz GIL, (POL)
• 37. Ruben VANDEVELDE, (BEL)
• 38. Stijn HUYS, (BEL)
• 39. Antonin MARECAILLE, (FRA)
• 40. Tim DE SCHUYTER, (BEL)
• 41. Jens GYS, (BEL)
• 42. Benjamin KRAWCZYK, (FRA)

Women’s results

• 1. Sophie DE BOER, (NED), in 41:53
• 2. Helen WYMAN, (GBR), at 2:11
• 3. Ellen VAN LOY, (BEL), at 2:12
• 4. Sanne CANT, (BEL), at 2:18
• 5. Maud KAPTHEIJNS, (NED), at 2:19
• 6. Katherine COMPTON, (USA), at 2:38
• 7. Kaitlin ANTONNEAU, (USA), at 2:53
• 8. Elle ANDERSON, (USA), at 3:03
• 9. Marianne VOS, (NED), at 3:10
• 10. Alicia FRANCK, (BEL), at 3:27
• 11. Loes SELS, (BEL), at 3:37
• 12. Laura VERDONSCHOT, (BEL), at 4:05
• 13. Manon BAKKER, (NED), at 4:17
• 14. Juliette LABOUS, (FRA), at 4:22
• 15. Jolien VERSCHUEREN, (BEL), at 4:27
• 16. Pauline DELHAYE, (FRA), at 4:52
• 17. Geerte HOEKE, (NED), at 5:11
• 18. Joyce VANDERBEKEN, (BEL), at 5:18
• 19. Stefanie PAUL, (GER), at 5:21
• 20. Karen VERHESTRAETEN, (BEL), at 5:29
• 21. Denise BETSEMA, (NED), at 5:36
• 22. Bianca VAN DEN HOEK, (NED), at 5:51
• 23. Lindy VAN ANROOIJ, (NED), at 6:07
• 24. Inge VAN DER HEIJDEN, (NED), at 6:18
• 25. Veerle GOOSSENS, (NED), at 6:41
• 26. Esther VAN DER BURG, (NED), at 6:55
• 27. Amira MELLOR, (GBR), at 7:13
• 28. Suzanne VERHOEVEN, (BEL), at 7:21
• 29. Julie WRIGHT, (USA), at 7:37
• 30. Irene GERRITSEN, (NED), at 7:56
• 31. Shana MAES, (BEL), at 8:17
• 32. Linda TER BEEK, (NED), at 8:38
• 33. Marthe TRUYEN, (BEL), at 9:33
• 34. Laura KRANS, (NED), at 9:48
• 35. Caren COMMISSARIS, (BEL)
• 36. Gertie WILLEMS, (BEL)
• 37. Elodie KUIJPER, (NED)
• 38. Aurelie VERMEIR, (BEL)
• 39. Eva Maria PALM, (BEL)
• 40. Tinne VERMEIREN, (BEL)
• 41. Julia NIKOLOPOULOS, (GER)
• 42. Erin FACCONE, (USA)
• 43. Tine ROMBOUTS, (BEL)
• 44. Katharina HINZ, (GER)
• 45. Yenthe BOONS, (BEL)