Either Wout Van Aert or Mathieu Van Der Pol won his fourth world title in the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Ostend on Sunday afternoon. The pre-race favorites did not disappoint, finishing 1-2, but not in the order that local fans and Van Aert had hoped.

Van Aert dominated the highly anticipated showdown in the first half of the race with a 20-second advantage. However, on the third lap of the race, he suffered a flat tire.

Van Aert was unable to keep the pressure on his Dutch rivals and gradually slipped away from the rainbow jersey. After the race, Van Aert blamed himself for giving up the chase for glory before the race was over.

"During the first two laps it was clear that I was super. The puncture consumed a lot of energy," Van Aert said.

"At the World Championships, everything has to go your way. The only thing I can blame myself for is that I lost heart. For some reason, after the flat tire, I couldn't push through the wall anymore. I had a mental breakdown. I'm disappointed about that," Van Aert said at Sporza Studios in Oostende immediately after the race.

"I am disappointed. At one moment I had the advantage and then I lost a lot of time because of the puncture. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I'm disappointed that I couldn't fight back like I usually can. I'm disappointed," he said. The depressed Belgian said he missed his family, especially his newborn son Georges: "After the finish, I met a lot of people, but not the ones I wanted to see. Van Aert explained that their duel often came down to detail and the first blow.

"Mathieu and I are antagonistic to each other. If one gets a bonus over the other, it's a huge advantage. If we are in front, it's no drama to make small mistakes."

"We were in control and it was the situation we wanted. The puncture ruined our chances," Van Aert said.

Van der Pol was unable to help his situation when he went over the handlebars at the end of the second lap.

"I heard the MC talking [over the speakers on the track]. It was quite a crash and he obviously opened up a lead. I was putting a lot of pressure on Mathieu at that point and maybe that's the reason for his mistake."

"You seem very disappointed, but obviously Mathieu deserved the championship. For half the race he was riding perfectly and I couldn't get any closer.

Van Aert noticed a puncture as he passed the second pit area on the third of eight laps, but it was too late to enter the pit area. Behind him, van der Pol damaged his saddle in a crash and had to replace his bike. From there, the Dutch rider closed the gap to van Aert, who challenged the technical part of the course with a front puncture.

"I was riding by the pits when I noticed the puncture. I was slowly losing pressure. I think I lost half my time because of the puncture."

Van Aert was a dozen seconds ahead of Van der Pol, but made up time on laps 4 and 5, and halfway through lap 5, as he approached the toughest part of the course, a deep sand section and a 21 percent grade uphill on the huge flyover between the beach and the hippodrome, he lost time on lap 3. He was within three seconds of the lead as they approached the "final" part of the race.

"I almost got back in the race. I almost blew my engine. In the driving section I pushed the limits to get closer. Then I had to run twice in the sand section after that and it was game over," the silver medalist said.

"Maybe I should have taken a different approach, trying to take more time to get back because I was completely dead at the bridge. In my head, if Mathieu got into the 15s, I would go back to the 13s, and if he got into the 16s, I would ...... I thought, "I can't go back. Then he has the control I had before the flat tire.

"Before the flat tire I had a 20 second bonus. Then Mathieu would have to do the same to close the gap and he would start making mistakes.

The lack of home fans shouting their support for Van Aert may have been a decisive factor, but he dismissed it.

"It could have been different, but Mathieu also missed his fans. We knew for weeks that the fans were not there. We miss the fans and hope they come back soon."

When talking about the future, Van Art saw a bright light. It was a road campaign in Jumbo Visma.

"That's the nice thing about cycling. There's always the next race, I'll enjoy a week of recovery and then get on with my future goals. Next year I have cyclocross again, and then I'll try again."