Mathieu van der Poel found himself in another close battle against archrival Wout van Aert in the World Cup race in Koksijde but already before the halfway point, the Ducthman had to let the Belgian go. Having finished the race in theird, van der Poel admitted that he had been beaten by a stronger rider.

Mathieu van der Poel got the World Cup race in Koksijde off to a perfect start when he was the only rider who was able to follow Wout van Aert in the first few laps of the race. However, he started to fade and ended the race in third.

"I am glad I started well," he told Sporza. "I was able to follow van Aert and build a gap over the others. I rode well in the sand but still I did not fell 100%."

The reason for that was a cold that kept him off the bike for a couple of days.

"It is a shame that I couldn't fight at full strength against Wout but he was the best. Behind, I was lucky that I could follow his lines which also made it a little easier."

After the two youngsters had dominated the race, many have suggested that it is time for changing of guard in the cyclocross world. However, van der Poel refused that suggestion.

"We are not here just to watch and the competition is bigger," he said. "It's nice that the young guys can keep up but we don't have a true changing of guards yet."