First-lap misfortunes couldn’t derail Mathieu van der Poel Saturday in the Diegem Superprestige. The Dutchman took a convincing win ahead of world champion Wout van Aert under the lights. Laurens Sweeck was third.
Just minutes after the fast paved start, van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) catapulted over his handlebars on the track’s slippery off-camber. In a flash, he went from top-five to outside of the first 20 riders. Then, to make matters worse, he was delayed by a three-rider pile-up on one of the course’s numerous paved sections.
All of the carnage gave van Aert (Crelan-Charles) a 13-second lead after a couple of laps.
Van der Poel was undeterred and muscled his way through the pack, into the top-10 after a lap, and up to van Aert’s wheel on lap three.
With his white European champion’s skinsuit soiled from the early spill, van der Poel wasted no time putting pressure on van Aert. Though the Belgian seemed a bit smoother on some of the course’s muddy, technical sections, he couldn’t match van der Poel’s sheer power.
Van der Poel’s lead grew steadily each lap, and as the bell rang for the final lap, he was 31 seconds ahead of van Aert.
Sweeck (Era-Circus) remained in third throughout the race, never feeling pressure from behind, but also never with a chance to catch the world champ in second.
It was van der Poel’s fourth win in the Superprestige series, which continues after world championships, February 11 in Hoogstraten.
The 22-year-old Dutchman has been on an impressive streak in December, winning six of seven major races.
Results
- 1. Mathieu Van Der Poel (NED), CORENDON – CIRCUS,1:03:45
- 2. Wout Van Aert (BEL), CRELAN – CHARLES,1:04:40
- 3. Laurens Sweeck (BEL), ERA-CIRCUS,1:05:26
- 4. Toon Aerts (BEL), TELENET FIDEA LIONS,1:06:03
- 5. Marcel Meisen (GER), STEYLAERTS – BETFIRST,1:06:13
- 6. Kevin Pauwels (BEL), MARLUX – NAPOLEON GAMES,1:06:15
- 7. Tom Meeusen (BEL), CORENDON – CIRCUS,1:06:21
- 8. David Van Der Poel (NED), CORENDON – CIRCUS,1:06:36
- 9. Michael BoroŠ (CZE), PAUWELS SAUZEN – VASTGOEDSERVICE,1:06:40
- 10. Quinten Hermans (BEL), TELENET FIDEA LIONS,1:07:00
- 11. Michael Vanthourenhout (BEL), MARLUX – NAPOLEON GAMES,1:07:10
- 12. Tim Merlier (BEL), CRELAN – CHARLES,1:07:21
- 13. Lars Van Der Haar (NED), TELENET FIDEA LIONS,1:07:32
- 14. Jens Adams (BEL), PAUWELS SAUZEN – VASTGOEDSERVICE,1:07:59
- 15. Stan Godrie (NED), CRELAN – CHARLES,1:08:07
- 16. Nicolas Cleppe (BEL), TELENET FIDEA LIONS,1:08:33
- 17. Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED), 1:09:22
- 18. Ismael Esteban Aguero (ESP), GINESTAR – DELIKIA,1:09:32
- 19. Felipe Orts Lloret (ESP), GINESTAR – DELIKIA,1:09:50
- 20. Diether Sweeck (BEL), ERA-CIRCUS,1:10:14
- 21. Severin SÄgesser (SUI), 1:10:17
- 22. Garry Millburn (AUS), -1LAP
- 23. Gioele Bertolini (ITA), -1LAP
- 24. Vincent Baestaens (BEL), -1LAP
- 25. Kenneth Hansen (DEN), -1LAP
- 26. Eli Iserbyt (BEL), MARLUX – NAPOLEON GAMES,-2LAPS
- 27. Brody Sanderson (CAN), -2LAPS
- 28. Trevor O’donnell (CAN), -3LAPS
- 29. Kohei Maeda (JPN), -3LAPS
- 30. Martin Eriksson (SWE), -3LAPS
- 31. Andrew Juiliano (USA), -3LAPS
- 32. Erno Mc Crae (BEL), -3LAPS
- 33. Nicholas Diniz (CAN), -3LAPS
- 34. Yu Takenouchi (JPN), -4LAPS
- 35. Henrik Jansson (SWE), -4LAPS
- 36. Alexander Forrester (GBR), -4LAPS
- DNF Gianni Vermeersch (BEL), STEYLAERTS – BETFIRST
- DNF Dieter Vanthourenhout (BEL), MARLUX – NAPOLEON GAMES
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