Belgians will use World Cup trick to get Van Aert to Van der Poel as quickly as possible from starting row two

On Monday, Sven Vanthourenhout announced the Belgian World Cup selection for the cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide. Wout van Aert is the leader of the nine-man squad that the Belgian national coach is sending to West Brabant, and the selector made no secret of that fact in his explanation.

'When it comes to the world title, I see two contenders and we have one in our ranks', Vanthourenhout admitted at the press conference announcing the selection to Het Nieuwsblad, among others. 'That's obvious to the other guys. When Mathieu and Wout are at the start, they know it's a totally different perspective.'

'If there's a first shuffle, guys like Sweeck, Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout are still there, but if there's a second shuffle, two remain,' the national coach outlined. 'So the rest know their place. Hoogerheide is a selective course where power plays a role, so I expect it to quickly become a battle between two riders.'

Belgians must quickly make way for Van Aert after trick start

That also affects the tactics of the other Belgians, who can (and should, according to the national coach) quickly clear space for Van Aert starting on the second row of the starting grid through a clever trick after the start. 'As for the start, it is also clear: Wout starts on the second row, so it will be important to get him into position quickly. After that, a fair battle should follow," Vanthourenhout pleads.

He also returned briefly to the riot between Michael Vanthourenhout and Laurens Sweeck surrounding the BK. Those guys all know me well enough to know how I feel about it. There are not many folds to iron out anymore. I've talked to both of them and the Lokeren events are off the table. So they should not come up again in the week before the World Cup. Everyone has come to an understanding and I'm convinced it's OK.'

Does Mathieu van der Poel take the world cyclocross title? There is an odd of 2.30!

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