This time, Mathieu van der Poel seemed a bit stronger than the Belgian champion. But the Dutchman made a small mistake in the last technical part of the circuit, leaving the Flandrien to plug the three seconds behind he had just before the final straight. And while the two men watched each other, Tom Pidcock came in too.
This time, Mathieu van der Poel had no problems in the sprint (he had taken off his shoes at Heusden-Zolder) but he might not do anything once morest the power of our compatriot, who imposed himself in front of his public.
Pidcock, exhausted following several chases for an hour, settled for third place behind VDP.
We have seen another heart attack ending!
Go last lap. Van der Poel leaves, crashes into the fences and Van Aert arrives… they look at each other and Pidcock arrives.
Sprint to three and… Victory for Wout van Aert in Loenhout! Animal following animal. #ExactCross
???? Eurosport pic.twitter.com/AbpdjdSokD
– Sergio Yustos Fernández (@sergioyustos_) December 30, 2022
Shirin Van Anrooij untouchable
Earlier, the Dutch Shirin Van Anrooij had easily dominated the women’s race in the absence of Puck Pieterse and Fem Van Empel. She was ahead of Marie Schreiber and Manon Bakker by more than a minute on the finish line.
