'At least cyclocross is over after an hour' - Van Aert laughs off brutal Worlds after Van der Poel gamble

Van Aert finished 5:11 behind surprise winner Brandon McNulty after trying to influence the race from long range. Rather than waiting for the strongest climbers to dictate the finale, he chose to move early and briefly found himself at the front alongside Mathieu van der Poel and several of the race's biggest names.

For a while, the gamble looked promising.

With around 90 kilometres remaining, Van Aert joined a dangerous move containing Van der Poel, McNulty and Primož Roglič. When the group was almost brought back, the Belgian accelerated again and helped force another selection.

It was exactly the kind of scenario Van Aert had been looking for. On a course that became progressively harder as France increased the pressure, he knew that simply following wheels until the final laps was unlikely to be enough.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad after the race, Van Aert admitted the course eventually exposed his limits.

“It was an incredibly hard World Championship and for me it was simply too hard,” he said.

“I think I rode a good race, but with four or five laps to go the lights went out. That is frustrating, but there was nothing more I could do.”

The decision to attack early had been deliberate. France had spent much of the race making the pace increasingly difficult, and Van Aert felt that waiting passively would only reduce his chances. When Van der Poel began to move, the Belgian saw an opportunity worth taking.

“They made the race extremely difficult. I expected that if I just followed all day, it would become very hard for me to play a role in the finale.”

Van der Poel quickly justified that assessment. There had been no agreement between the two rivals beforehand, but Van Aert recognised immediately that the Dutchman was not simply following attacks.

“Everybody knows what Mathieu can do,” Van Aert said. “I could see he wasn’t just following wheels. He was really trying to blow the race apart.

“He looked extremely strong, so he was exactly the kind of rider you wanted to try to follow.”

The decisive moment for Van Aert came when Van der Poel accelerated on the Côte de la Polytechnique.

Van Aert could not stay with the front group. His own hopes of winning the rainbow jersey effectively ended there.

Rather than continuing to ride for a minor placing, he changed roles completely and spent his remaining energy helping Remco Evenepoel return towards the main group of favourites.

“When I had to let the front group go, the only useful thing I could still do was try to bring Remco back into the race,” Van Aert said.

Van Aert expanded on that tactical switch speaking to Sporza.

By the time his own chances had disappeared, Evenepoel was also showing signs of difficulty. Van Aert nevertheless felt there was still a reason to commit himself fully to his teammate.

“I saw that he was one of the last favourites to get back to the front, which wasn’t a good sign,” Van Aert said.

“But with Remco you never know. I still felt quite positive about his chances when my own race was over.”

The Belgian effort ultimately fell short, with McNulty taking advantage of a hesitant chase to attack with 33 kilometres remaining and ride alone to the world title.

Van Aert was not surprised to see the American capable of finishing the job.

“He is a worthy world champion,” he said. “Maybe he wasn’t the most expected name, but inside the peloton he is certainly not someone who is underestimated.”

After such a punishing afternoon, there was still room for a joke. Asked whether riding alongside Van der Poel had brought back memories of their many battles in the mud, Van Aert laughed.

“No, because cyclocross is at least finished after an hour.”

The comment also offered a glimpse of what comes next.

His road season is now over, but Van Aert confirmed that another return to cyclocross is part of the plan.

“I will definitely come back to cyclocross,” he said. “But first the bike is going into the bike bag.”