Van Aert Wins in Benidorm

Wout van Aert, from the Visma-Lease a Bike team, rose to an impressive solo victory at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Benidorm, Spain. The Belgian rider made his winning move in the last lap and, despite suffering a fall when overcoming the barriers towards the finish line, managed to maintain the lead against Michael Vanthourenhout from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, who finished in second place.

Van Aert, with a standout performance throughout the race, showed resilience and strategy, even facing personal challenges like a wrist injury and his mother's recent accident. "I'm in a bit of pain in the wrist," Van Aert admitted at the finish line. "I guess it was meant to be; my mom broke her wrist yesterday, they got married on July 13, today I saw that I had number 13, and I thought, 'it's my day.'” Despite the setbacks, his determination and skill led him to victory.

Thibau Nys from Baloise Trek Lions led the chasing pack to secure third place, closely followed by Eli Iserbyt from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal. World champion Mathieu van der Poel from Alpecin-Deceuninck, managed a remarkable comeback to finish in fifth place, after losing time due to a fall in a sandy curve.

The race was a true testament to endurance and technical skill in cyclocross, with Van Aert demonstrating why he is one of the world's most outstanding cyclists in this discipline. "I felt pretty strong today," said Van Aert. "Obviously, Mathieu was also strong, but he had bad luck, so it's unfortunate that it didn't come to a showdown. Still, when Mathieu fell in the final, I had to beat all the others, and it wasn't easy. I'm happy that I was able to do it."