Take2 weeks ago
Second place at Les Gets proves van der Poel has the form — but at Val di Sole, form is beside the point if you're starting fifth row. The XCC result that earned him a front-row slot this weekend counts for nothing at the World Championships.
At a World Cup, a strong XCC finish translates directly into a front-row XCO start — that's what van der Poel had today, and he felt it: «It was really nice to be on the front again. It has been a while, but it makes a difference to be in the first two rows.» At Val di Sole, that mechanism doesn't exist; his road and cyclocross ranking puts him on the fifth row regardless. He knows last year's script too: strong at Les Gets, 29th at Crans-Montana a week later. «The starting position is really important and I'll be back on the fifth row there, so I'm going to need a little bit of luck.»
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