LIVE Cyclocross, Superprestige Diegem 2022 LIVE: Van Aert wins the Belgian night on Pidcock, van der Poel is third

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21.56 The LIVE LIVE of the sixth stage of Superprestige in Diegem ends here. Next appointment in Gullegem on January 7th. Thank you for following us and good continuation with OA Sport!

21.55 The top 10 of the Superprestige general:

1 Lars VAN DER HAAR 78
2 Michael VANTHOURENHOUT 71
3 Eli ISERBYT 69
4 Laurens SWEECK 63
5 Tom PIDCOCK 50
6Kevin KUHN 41
7 Niels VANDEPUTTE 39
8 Toon VANDEBOSCH 33
9 Mathieu VAN DER POEL 30
10 Quinten HERMANS 30

21.53 The top 10 of Diegem’s Superprestige:

1 VAN AERT Wout
2 PIDCOCK Tom
3 VAN DER POEL Mathieu
4 ISERBYT Eli
5 VANTHOURENHOUT Michael
6 VAN DER HAAR Lars
7 Hermans Quinten
8NYS Thibau
9 HAVERDINGS David
10 KUHN Kevin

21.51 A GARONE today in Diegem. After the first two laps the three tenors began to give each other a thrashing, van der Poel seemed the brightest until the sixth lap but then exploded. It becomes a duel between Pidcock and Van Aert, with the two overtaking each other many times in the last lap, but in the end the Belgian phenomenon is right and finally wins here in Diegem.

21.48 Van Der Haar is sixth at 1’55 ‘, loses only one point from Vanthourenhout and therefore remains at the top of the Superprestige. Sweeck even eleventh.

21.47 van der Poel is third at 33″, Iserbyt fourth at 1’08” ahead of Vanthourenhout at 1’45”.

21.46 WOUT VAN AERTTTTT!!! THE NEW PRINCE OF DIEGEM IS THE BELGIAN!!! PIDCOCK BEAT!

21.46 Pidcock gets stuck in the quagmire! Van Aert has a slight margin on the final straight…

21.45 And Van Aert again! Door between the two, after the second bridge!

21.45 Pidcock slips into a sharp bend again! The Briton is giving it his all!

21.44 Overtaking by Pidcock in the S, but he makes a little mistake and Van Aert takes the lead again!

21.43 Van Aert gets bogged down in the sand, Pidcock takes him back! Now quagmire, stairway and final straight line!

21.42 You enter the woods and Van Aert goes ahead! He wants to enter the sand section first, he swerves Pidcock but he stays there!

21.41 Now Pidcock and Van Aert are studying each other, they take a breather for a moment before the finale …

21.40 The others are far away: Iserbyt goes to 53 “.

21.39 Pidcock and Van Aert on the last lap in 53’09’0′. VDP looks very tired, switch to 10”!

21.38 And it’s going very badly for van der Poel, who may not have any more. The Dutch could lose his fiefdom of Diegem!

21.37 And now Pidcock is giving it his all! He wants to try to disconnect everyone! Van Aert, however, remains nearby.

21.36 Now who seems to be on the hook is Mathieu van der Poel, who seems to have little beer in his body …

21.35 And Pidcock arrives too! He returns just before the forest and takes the lead.

21.34 The Belgian also lost margin due to some handlebar problems.

21.33 And in fact the Dutch is returning below! Pidcock a little further, but this race NEVER ENDS.

21.32 It’s going like a Van Aert train, but van der Poel and Pidcock don’t want to give up!

21.31 Finished the sixth lap! Van Aert has 9” on van der Poel and Pidcock, lap in 7’23”!

21.28 And the Belgian STRETCHES ON THE SAND! VAN DER POEL CAN’T ANSWER! IT’S NOT POSSIBLE, IT WAS WITHOUT ENERGY AND NOW IT’S NOT SEEING ANYMORE!!

21.27 AND ACCELERATE VAN AERT! She looked on the hook five minutes ago, she had the hard time and now stretches!!!

21.27 VAN DER POEL RECOVERED! ALL THREE TOGETHER AGAIN AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE WOOD!

21.26 VAN AERT REACTED! He shot Pidcock out of nowhere, with great power! Still all open!

21.25 Pidcock is slowly returning to van der Poel, who has changed bikes. But the Dutchman could raise on the sandbar…

21.24 Iserbyt moves to fourth place with 38 “, but has a good margin of 25” on Vanthourenhout sixth.

21.23 Fifth lap! 37’53” for van der Poel, Pidcock goes to 9”, Van Aert to 13”!

21.21 Meanwhile, in fourth place is Eli Iserbyt, author of a very regular test.

21.20 And in fact Van Aert loses margin from the British on the sand section, he can’t even make the ‘bunny hop’: evidently he doesn’t have the energy of yesterday…

21.19 And behind, Pidcock sets the pace. Van Aert is doing too much wrong…

21.17 Van der Poel is stretching! Now Van Aert and Pidcock are at 6”!

21.15 Not for nothing, in Diegem they haven’t known a winner other than the Dutch since 2014… Fourth round closed, van der Poel has 4” on Van Aert and Pidcock.

21.14 Van der Poel is now pushing, who is perhaps trying what could be the decisive attack.

21.13 New attack on the sand section for Mathieu van der Poel, and he also gains momentum by jumping over the boards.

21.11 The escape of van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock continues, with the Briton who seems to have regained a minimum of momentum.

21.08 Third lap completed: van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock cross the finish line in 22’50”, a 7’45” lap for the Dutchman.

21.07 Meanwhile, Pidcock constantly appears on the hook, always remaining in line.

21.06 Meanwhile, the performance of Michael Vanthourenhout applauded, who took over the Iserbyt-Van der Haar couple in the sand section, 31 “from the leading group.

21.05 Sweeck is losing again, he is now seventh and risks losing contact with Quinten Hermans. Good for Lars Van Der Haar, who can extend further in the Superprestige standings.

21.04 Van Aert and Pidcock hang up van der Poel. Three-way deal for the win, as was to be expected…

21.03 There will be eight laps to go in this race. The hour of travel could be reduced by a little.

21.02 van der Pol passes in 15.05, lap in 7.26. Van Aert is second at 4”, just behind Pidcock. Iserbyt instead sinks to 20”, ahead of Van Der Haar, Sweeck and a recovered Vanthourenhout.

21.00 Slip for Quinten Hermans.

20.58 Meanwhile, Michael Vanthourenhout is reported in eleventh place, far from the very first positions.

20.57 Large number of van der Poels! Stretched in sand, he is the only one to stay on the bike gaining a few seconds!

20.56 Iserbyt hangs up, so they are four ahead with Van Aert pulling. Van Der Haar is about ten seconds late.

20.55 And in the meantime the usual, terrible trio in the lead stops! Pidcock, Van Aert and van der Poel in the lead! Iserbyt is a couple of seconds away.

20.54 Risk for Kevin Kuhn! He manages to keep control of the bike standing up also thanks to the barriers.

20.53 Pidcock tries to escape at the end of the first lap! In pursuit of him van der Poel, Iserbyt and Van Aert, three seconds apart.

20.52 Vanthourenhout was climbing over the obstacle by jumping it with the bike, the so-called ‘bunny hop’, while Sweeck had decided to take the bike on his shoulder. By moving the vehicle, the accident arrives.

20.50 BAD FALL FOR VANTHOURENHOUT! He touches Laurens Sweeck and falls with his right shoulder; despite the pain, he gets back on the saddle after a few seconds.

20.49 Iserbyt appears very perky. He is probably trying to recover his leg after the last very difficult months.

20.48 There are eight of them in the leading group led by Eli Iserbyt. The figures of Van Der Haar, Pidcock, Van Aert, van der Poel and Vanthourenhout peep out.

20.47 Counterslope section, narrow road and a real snake forms in the group! In the meantime, Van Den Haar and Pidcock got off to a good start.

20.45 LEFT! And in the final part of the peloton there was a crash which blocked some riders. Very tortuous path

20.45 Statistical pill: Van Aert and van der Poel have challenged each other 130 times in cyclo-cross races, only on 11 occasions did not win one of the two. The runners are ready to go…

20.44 One hundred runners in the race, with three Italians present: Gioele Bertolini, Jakob Dorigoni and Lorenzo Masciarelli.

20.42 Two other prominent riders are also present: Eli Iserbyt has recovered after the bad blow suffered in Val di Sole, while Michael Vanthourenhout is in excellent form.

20.39 The leader of the Superprestige classification is Lars Van Der Haar, who thanks to an excellent performance yesterday (third) ousted Laurens Sweek from the top, yesterday only eighth.

20.36 Also present is the world champion Tom Pidcock; a spectacular ‘triello’ looms between them

20.33 But Diegem, up until the stop in the last two years due to Covid, had become a Dutch fiefdom: six victories in a row for him between 2014 and 2019, the last edition run.

20.30 Cyclocross does not stop for a single second: the challenge between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert is renewed, also great protagonists yesterday with the victory of the Belgian.

20.27 Good evening everyone and welcome to the LIVE LIVE of the sixth Superprestige round of the season, under the starry sky of Diegem.

Hello everyone and welcome to the LIVE LIVE of the sixth Superprestige round of the season: we’re going to Diegem, returning to the cyclo-cross calendar after a two-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many will still have tired legs after yesterday’s race at Zolder, but the group will certainly spare no effort to triumph in one of the sport’s historic races.

If you look at the stats, you can expect a ‘all against Mathieu van der Poel‘. The Dutchman is in an excellent moment of form and for years he was the absolute ruler in the town of the municipality of Machele: it is not for nothing that the roll of honor sees him as the last winner in a row of six consecutive editions. From 2014 to 2019 Diegem became the fiefdom of the champion in the Alpecin-Deceuninck jersey, and if we add the defeat twenty-four hours ago at the hands of Wout Van Aert we can imagine him with blood in his eyes today.

And of course, the Belgian cannot be excluded from the list of favourites. From applause yesterday in Zolder, always in the front row in the race, whether it’s the World Cup or Superprestige, unlike Thomas Pidcock which, sometimes, also runs into some distraction. However, many will be fierce in this competition: the duelists will certainly propose themselves in the Cup Laurens Sweeck and Michael Vanthourenhout, even if the former did not appear properly in shape yesterday. Precisely by virtue of his eighth place, the Dutchman is now at the top of the Superprestige Lars Van Der Haar, third yesterday.

The Superprestige Diemen 2022, sixth round of the Superprestige, will start at 20.45. OA Sport will follow the event with the usual LIVE LIVE so as not to miss a single ride of this event. Have fun!

Photo: LaPresse