Seeing Kevin Pauwels up there is really good to see. It's a shame he can't be up there fighting with MVDP and WVA. The same with Tom Meeusen could be at the front 100% of the time. He seems to be able to have bursts that can get him up to the front after Van Aert and Van der Poel have gone clear but is not able to go with them in the first place. One can see this effort is one of the metaphorical matches he has, which means he doesn't have it when the duo attack each other again as it is already burnt. (I remember when Meeusen was heralded as the successor to Sven Nys or Niels Albert.)Echoes said:I was there. It really was amazing. What a talent is Mathieu Van der Poel but what a fighting spirit has Wout Van Aert and even Kevin Pauwels fought till the end. But this shoulder to shoulder between Mathieu & Wout. Well in Mathieu's family, we know shoulder to shoulder is, of course.
I'm really proud to have seen it live, something to remember when I'm old. So fond of this duo and this rivalry. Who wishes to see them switch to the road after that? Just get interested in cyclocross and enjoy.
I wish the other young riders like Micheal Vanthourenhout and Laurens Sweeck could be more consistant to create a really good battle. Possibly if Vanthourenhout was more consistent and Van der Poel didn't exist, then we could see battles like we had in the Brico cross races at Geraardsbergen and Kruibeke. His problem is he can't last the whole hour when racing both Van Aert and Van der Poel.