Lucas Sáez-BravoSpecial envoy Benidorm

Special envoy Benidorm

Updated Sunday, January 21, 2024-17:08

Wout Van Aert

wore the number 13 on his back and arms and could not have had more bad luck.

"My mother broke her wrist yesterday," he confessed as he looked at his own bruises, also on his wrist and elbow.

This happened seconds after raising his arms at the Benidorm finish line, the same one where his Nemesis

Van der Poel

inaugurated a year ago .

An eye-watering triumph, the culmination of a hectic, tremendous career.

Van Aert himself was on the ground just a moment before, when he was tasting victory.

It was after leaving the penultimate obstacle, when he put his foot down to save it, without intending to take any risks.

Already alone, his right leg played tricks on him, he did not rise enough, perhaps already exhausted, to get back on his mount, and he stumbled badly.

"It was a very stupid action. I no longer wanted to take the risk of jumping the boards. A huge mistake," he admitted.

He lost his glasses, his saddle and his composure, but not the race, because his pursuer

De Vanthourenhout

had perhaps already thrown in the towel.

And Van der Poel?

From shock to shock, Benidorm hosted an absolutely exciting cyclocross World Cup event for the second consecutive year.

A thriller from start to finish, a convoluted script full of mishaps, unexpected heroes and favorites in trouble.

The one who most of all, Mathieu, could only finish fifth, also on the ground, the world champion much earlier, with a lap and a half to go, when all his chances of repeating on the Costa Blanca were squandered.

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Cycling.

Benidorm, the unexpected temple of cyclocross where Van der Poel and Van Aert challenge each other: "It is something that will be remembered in time"

  • Editor: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO (Special Envoy)Benidorm

Benidorm, the unexpected temple of cyclocross where Van der Poel and Van Aert challenge each other: "It is something that will be remembered in time"

The gods of cyclocross are the gods of cycling.

The "artists" who came to the Costa Blanca, where they found fun, relaxation and an ideal habitat to get ready for what lies ahead in a year marked by the Games.

Van Aert, the unexpected final winner, arrived at the circuit mid-morning and did so by bicycle from the Visma Lease a Bike hotel in Cala d'Or, more than 30 kilometers of easy riding, what could be better.

He had been accumulating loads all week, 213 kilometers with almost 4,000 meters of elevation gain on Thursday, not even a stage of the Tour.

Tom Pidcock

, the only one of the

Big Three

present on Saturday at the recognition, nevertheless arrived in his brand new Porsche, delighting the fans, 20,000, who came from all over Spain and also from Europe, a mix of accents, flags and jerseys in search of beer and paella.

What they were going to find next was absolutely worth it.

Not even the mud would have guaranteed such shocks.

Even local Felipe Orts'

eighth place finish

was a blessing.

And then there was Van der Poel, the untouchable, 10 out of 10 this winter in the mud, who also arrived by bicycle from his home in Cumbre del Sol (Moraira), surrounded by his entourage, his girlfriend

Roxanne Bertels, and his mother Corinne ,

Poulidor

's daughter

.

And his halo of the all-powerful king of cyclocross, world champion also on the road, elegance and ferocity taken to the limit in all the traps of the three kilometers of the Benidorm circuit, sand, steps, obstacles;

all this time against the rainbow, on one of those days to turn the page.

Van der Poel, in full effort in the Benidorm test.BenidormCX / Sprint Cycling

Because everything had turned out badly for the Dutchman, who suffered a mechanical breakdown during the massive outing.

And that forced him to show off.

His comeback was brutal.

In just two laps, taking advantage of the stretch of asphalt and one of those typical rushes in which he waves his arms like a feline, Van der Poel had already caught Van Aert and a Pidcock who would later collapse.

Not even half of the race had passed and the three gods were already in the lead, accompanied by the party's guest, another Belgian,

Michel Vanthourenhout

.

But the day was full of surprises and nothing could be concluded.

Leaving the arena, Mathieu said goodbye and Van Aert went with everything for victory, revenge, as troubled as his way of crossing the finish line, without glasses, without a saddle.

What difference does it make.

It is a matter of power, control and courage, of closing your eyes and throwing yourself into a 180º turn, as

Fem Van Empel

did earlier in the women's race to take victory from her compatriot

Puck Pieterse

.

All Dutch, like the third, although she speaks Spanish and her hair and skin are dark.

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado

, born in the Dominican Republic, took one step closer to her World Cup title, which she leads easily with one race remaining.