Wout van Aert wins muddy Exact Cross Loenhout thriller after Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock showdown

Updated 30/12/2022 at 19:23 GMT

Wout van Aert took victory at Exact Cross Loenhout after a thrilling three-way battle with Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock. The momentum shifted throughout in the Belgian mud, with the home favourite eventually ripping away to victory in the sprint. The result further tees up a tantalising fight between the stars when the road season gets underway in 2023.

'Another battle for the ages!' - Relive thrilling showdown as Van Aert beats Van der Poel, Pidcock

A muddy battle for the ages at the Exact Cross in Loenhout saw Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) edge a dramatic sprint showdown with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

After a bruising 59-minute battle in horrible conditions, the trio headed into the tarmacked finish in tandem before Van Aert delighted the Belgian crowd by powering home.

Van Aert was relieved to secure the win as he felt Van der Poel was exceptionally strong on the day.

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"It was a difficult course,” Van Aert said. “Mathieu performed better on the technical sections today, but I could not make it difficult for the other two. I was happy all along that I could keep up.

“To be honest, I believed Mathieu took off on the final lap. But he made a mistake that allowed me to come back, so I had to work to get myself together before the sprint.

"The plan was to be a few metres behind Tom so I could sprint from his slipstream. That worked out well.”

On securing his fifth win of the season, Van Aert said: “It's really insane. I didn't expect this when I started this part of the season. The legs and my morale are good. Then, occasionally, things go a bit easier."

Van der Poel was left to wonder what might have been after gapping his rivals on the eighth and final lap, only to lose time after almost coming unseated in the muddiest section of the course. Van Aert, and later Pidcock, re-joined at the front as the race went to a sprint that Van Aert never looked like losing.

Van der Poel took second ahead of Pidcock, who refused to be distanced despite struggling in the thick mud against his more powerful rivals. The Brit even chanced an attack at the end of the penultimate lap, although it was a move that was never likely to stick.

Cameron Mason (Trinity Racing) finished fourth to make it a memorable day for British cyclo-cross, even if top step on the podium eluded them again.

Shirin van Anrooij (Trek Baloise Lions) found life far more serene in the women’s race as she soloed clear to a dominant victory – her third in a week.

Despite the rain lashing down in Belgium, the Dutch ace pulled clear after the first lap and was not troubled from that point on.