An extraordinary frame of public exalted the stars of world cyclocross in Vermiglio (Trentino) in the first ever World Cup stage held on a completely snow-covered circuit. The Belgian dominated among men
In one word: unbeatable. Wout Van Aert has imposed his law also on the snow of Vermiglio, Val di Sole. The Belgian champion left behind his compatriot Michael Vanthourenhout, author of a great performance, while Brit Tom Pidcock climbed to the third step of the podium at the end of an all-comeback race.
Michael Vanthourenhout himself was the author of a rocket start, which however did not surprise fellow Belgian Wout Van Aert and Eli Iserbyt, the World Cup leader. The trio was grouped through the first lap, but right from the early corners of the second, Van Aert took control of the pace and put his rivals on the back foot.
During the third lap, Iserbyt lost contact due to a crash, while behind them Tom Pidcock began a slow but consistent, eventually leading him to catch and surpass Hermans and Iserbyt in the fourth lap. At that time it looked like the Brit could move further up, but a crash affected his ambitions. At the front, Van Aert finally crached Vanthourenhout’s resistance to cruse towards a great victory. Behind the two, Pidcock got back on Iserbyt to secure third place. Quinten Hermans rouned out the top-5.
For Wout Van Aert it was the third success in as many seasonal cyclocross races, and the second in two days. Vermiglio's success has a special taste, as the Belgian confirmed to the microphones of the international press: "Today we made cyclocross history. I absolutely wanted to be at the start, plus I love competing in Italy, the atmosphere, the enthusiasm of the public, and even today I was not disappointed. It was a very technical race, you had to try to stay in the saddle as much as possible, and deal with a course that changed lap after lap. When I started doing cyclocross, the World Cup was only held in the Netherlands and Belgium: today we are in Italy, we are experimenting with new scenarios, and I think it is positive. Maybe some Italian kids will have fallen in love with the cross today, and they will be part of tomorrow's champions.”
