Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) was absolutely no match for the rest of the field and outpaced Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) at the Telenet Superprestige in Heusden-Zolder on Monday. He won his fifth straight cyclocross season with a margin of over a minute over World Tour rider Tom Pidcock (Ineos).

A much anticipated showdown between Van Aert, Pidcock, and world champion Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) this weekend never quite materialized. Van Aert held off Pidcock for eighth place in Dendermonde on Sunday, while Van der Pol exited the race after 45 minutes in Zolder.

There was speculation that the world champion may have crashed off camera, or that his knee injury (still bandaged after having major stitches earlier this month) was a concern. Van der Pol told Het Nieuwsblad, "I'm not sure.

However, since his belated start to the cross season in early December, Van Aat has shown he is a step above the rest, but he is still tight-lipped about whether he will compete in the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in January. He is keeping his mouth shut.

"Every day I fear it will be an issue," Van Aert said. "After the Belgian Championships we will definitely talk about it. I keep saying that."

Van Aert has been hesitant about the World Championships since November, when his coach Marc Lambertz told Het Laatste Nieuws that the Belgian champion wanted to skip the World Championships to prepare for an early season classic on the road

"I'm not sure I'm ready for it.

"If you think of it as preparation, I would say don't go. But there are other sporting interests. We have to consider what is possible with the Jumbo Visma team and find a compromise," Lambertz said last month.

The form Van Aert is showing, especially when compared to defending champion Van Der Pol, makes him a leading contender for the title at Arkansas.

"I've never won five straight cross races. That should be enough."

What is particularly impressive is Van Aat's ability to recover from very difficult races and perform the next day. After winning a muddy race in Essen earlier this month, he flew to Italy in the middle of the night to take the World Cup win in Val di Sole.

Similarly, Van Aert's solo victory over Van der Pol in a tough race in Dendermonde on Sunday showed no signs of exertion 24 hours later.

"It was a bit of a wait-and-see kind of thing," he said. I felt the effort last night." A muddy race like that is always tough, but I noticed I was recovering in the warm-up this morning."

"I was feeling good," he said.

He started from the second row, but was already at the front of the race before he even left the pavement. He said, "It's one of the few crossings where being on the second row at the start doesn't put you at a disadvantage. The ocean parted at the right time."

"The start was perfect and I felt good right away. Mathieu [van der Poer] was not in good shape and there was a gap, so I tried to make a gap."

Van Aert said he plans to continue his winning streak in the next race. The Superprestige in Diegem was cancelled, but the Belgian championships are preceded by the X2O races in Lohnhout, Baar, and Herentals, as well as the Hulst World Cup. When we start, we race to win," he said. That's the way it's always been."

"I gave a lot today and yesterday. I want to finish well and extend my title in Belgium."