Wout van Aert: “This was one of the best days of my life on the bike”

Wout van Aert (Crelan-Charles) Sunday in the Dutch town of Valkenburg for the third time in his career, the world title in cyclo-cross conquered. Michael Vanthourenhout grabbed at 2:13 of the winner, surprisingly, the silver, the big favourite Mathieu van der Poel had to settle with bronze and remain on a single world title (2015).

The 23-year-old Van Aert dominated almost from start to finish and drove his direct competitor Van der Poel fully in the destruction.

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“This was one of the best days of my life on the bike”, he reacted immediately after the finish. “When I just came, sat on the mental level. I was an hour beyond my limits drive. It is a world championship, and I didn’t want to take risks by slowing down drive and so I am an hour-long full-on keep going.”

“At the end I was completely dead. In round five, I made a mistake on the lowest point of the trail, then I was a half a round out of my rhythm but, for the last. Three titles deal in cyclocross is a special achievement that not too many people did and those who did are icons in our sport. Here I have worked hard for it, now is the time to enjoy it!”

Van Aert had further praise for the fellow countrymen. “This is also great for Belgium, we had a fantastic team for this world cup and the atmosphere was very good. This morning I had no stress and I have them to thank. We are still one of the largest fietslanden and I am happy for my country, this title was able to deal with it.”