'What he did today is enormous': rivals react to Wout van Aert's victorious return to cyclocross
The Belgian star came out on top in his first race of the cyclocross season after having time off the bike
Wout van Aert's rivals were left fighting for second place as the Belgian returned to racing after having time off the bike.
Van Aert started his cyclocross season at the Superprestige race in Boom where he won by almost two minutes over second place rider Toon Aerts with European champion Lars van der Haar completing the podium.
British rider Tom Pidcock also made his return to racing in the mud, but he didn't quite have the same form as Van Aert with Pidcock finishing in seventh place, two minutes 13 seconds down.
Van Aert's rivals voiced their amazement after the race: "It is unbelievable what Wout van Aert has done here," Toon Aerts told Sporza.
"It was to be expected that he would quickly join the front of affairs, but that he produces such a lap after just one lap shows a lot of confidence. This race will make him even more confident in the coming weeks."
World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt joked that he didn't really see Van Aert's race as his lead was so huge adding: "What he did today is enormous. The lead was huge. He has reached a consistently high level since last winter, also on the road. Wout was at home on this course. I have to hope for a slightly faster race to keep up with him."
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With Van Aert and Pidcock returning to the sport, two of the three stars of cyclocross are back with the world champion Mathieu van der Poel set to finally join the fold on Boxing day.
Up until the race in Boom it has been about three riders, Aerts, Iserbyt and Van der Haar with Iserbyt dominating the World Cup with five wins along with three Superprestige rounds.
This is now expected to all change with the return of Van Aert, Pidcock and later Van der Poel.
Aerts admitted that he thought the same after Van Aert's performance: "We have to be honest. If you see how Van Aert rode away, it could be a Christmas period without victories."
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.