Impressive showman Tom Bidcock succeeds Van der Poel and Van der Haar in the race for silver | Cycling

Bedcock knew he had to react to everything so he wouldn’t run behind the scenes on the lightning fast track. That became apparent on the opening lap as Ton Airts accelerated; All Belgians kept their feet. Bidcock responded with van der Haar and closed the gap. Next, Pidcock decided not to let anyone drive, only to give him a chance on the fourth lap. At the time, he took advantage of an incident between Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenhout, who also got into trouble when Fem van Empel lost the World Cup after an unfortunate moment with Puck Pieterse.

The Briton from Ineos-Grenadiers did not stand still and broke one record after another. The pursuit group also knew halfway through the cross that silver was the highest attainable, because whatever they did, they never came close. Van der Haar settled in last position of the group with Laurens Sweeck, Vanthourenhout, Iserbyt and Clément Venturini. On lap seven he had had enough and only Esserbitt could respond to his acceleration. It wasn’t for the win, because Bidcock was 35 seconds ahead of number two at the time.

The world title is no longer in danger for Bidcock, who won the Olympic title in mountain biking last year. On the last lap, the versatile rider put on a show by jumping at high speed. As Superman, he crossed the finish line and the world title became a reality. Bidcock succeeds four-time winner Matthew van der Poel, who was not present due to a back injury. Wut van Aert also missed out because the World Cup did not fit into his road season preparations.

Behind the Briton, Van der Haar sprinted to second at the expense of Eserbet. This is his fourth medal in the World Cup for Dutch and European champions. He was also on the podium in 2013 (3), 2015 (3) and 2016 (2).

“It feels like liberation,” Bidcock said. sporza†, after a few laps I thought: it’s my turn now. When I was thirty seconds ahead, I knew I couldn’t lose anymore. Then I had to check and it worked. We had a plan and worked very closely for this match. you succses. But it’s not simple: you spend a week here in a hotel and the tension increases day by day. It’s very difficult to manage,” said Bidcock, who had no opposition from Van Aert and Van der Poel. Then people think it will get simpler, but it makes it more difficult.

Van der Haar was delighted with the silver at the World Cyclocross Championships on Sunday. He thought he had made one mistake. “When Bidcock attacked, I was too far away,” Woudenberger told Eurosport. Britain’s Tom Bidcock broke away from the rivals on the fourth of nine laps. Maybe I could have moved on, but then maybe the outcome would have been the same.”

Van der Haar has already won two bronze and one silver medals at the World Cup in recent years. Last fall he became the European Champion on Mount VAM in Drenthe. “It’s a great season,” he concluded shortly after beating Belgium’s Elie Esserbet in the sprint for second place. Today, it was difficult to put yourself in the early stages. I blame myself for sitting too far away when making the decision. From that moment I decided to take second place. I kept waiting for a good moment to pull back, but Clement Venturini (the Frenchman who finished fifth) was always ahead of me. In the end it worked and I got Ellie with me. I continued driving. It didn’t matter to me: coming in second or third. Well, silver is more beautiful. “