Mathieu van der Poel hopes to have his 'best legs’ at the World Championships in title defence bid
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Updated 27/01/2024 at 20:02 GMT
Mathieu van der Poel cruised to a comfortable victory at X2O Trofee Hamme-Flandriencross to tick off his 11th win of the season ahead of next week’s World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. The Dutch rider is the reigning World Champion and hopes “to have his best legs” as he bids to defend his title. Elsewhere, Fem van Empel roared to victory to claim her 16th win of the season.
'Spectacular beyond belief' - van der Poel takes stunning solo victory in Hamme
Mathieu van der Poel hopes to have his "best legs” when he begins his title defence at the World Championships after claiming his 11th victory of the season at X2O Trofee Hamme.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider put the burners on and sped away from the rest of the pack at the halfway stage of the Flandriencross to seal a comfortable victory.
Following Saturday’s success, the Dutchman had a short message ahead of next week’s World Championships in the Czech Republic.
“It was quite OK after two good weeks of training in Spain,” he said following his 160th triumph as an elite cyclist.
“I felt I did a lot of work, so hopefully I’ll have my best legs next week.”
Van der Poel edged Wout van Aert in a thrilling race last year to claim his fifth world title.
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Watch highlights as Van Aert gets better of Van der Poel in Benidorm despite late crash
The reigning world champion was engaged in a brief battle with Michael Vanthourenhout on Saturday as the Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal rider was the only one able to match Van der Poel’s acceleration.
He could not keep up for long, though, as Van der Poel moved 16 seconds ahead on the slippery course as Vanthourenhout finished second.
“It’s not easy to stay on the wheel [of Van der Poel], so I’m very happy,” Vanthourenhout said after the race.
There was a battle for the final podium spot, as Vanthourenhout’s Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal team-mate Eli Iserbyt contested with Alpecin-Decueninck rider Niels Vandeputte for third spot, but held off the Belgian to finish another 35 seconds behind Van der Poel.
In the women’s race, Fem van Empel roared to victory to claim her 16th win of the season at the X2O Trofee Hamme-Flandriencross.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider dominated from start to finish and had opened up an 11-second gap on lap one.
Van Empel, the reigning world champion, stretched her advantage to 25 seconds on the second lap as she all but confirmed her victory, eventually boosting her lead by over a minute.
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'What a year she is having!' - Van Empel picks up 16th win of the season in Homme
“I felt very good today and I am very happy with that,” Van Empel said after the race. “I just wanted to ride at my own pace.
“This is a treacherous circuit, with all those tracks, so it is an advantage if you can ride alone.
"Halfway through the race, I heard the speaker announce the time difference. From then on it was just a matter of keeping a good pace."
Lucinda Brand (WorldTeam Lidl–Trek) finished second as Manon Bakker (Team Fenix–Deceuninck) wrapped up the final podium spot.
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