Mathieu van der Pol (Netherlands) extended his world title winning streak to three consecutive years by winning a much-anticipated duel with Wout van Aert (Belgium) on the sands of Oostende, Belgium, on Sunday afternoon.

Everyone was familiar with the thrilling sprint contest at the Tour of Flanders, and all eyes were on how this epic showdown, the first since the October road race, would play out.

After a thrilling first half of Sunday's cyclocross world championship, Van der Pol ended a long solo run. With this fourth world title, he is on par with cyclocross legend Roland Liboton, who won the world title in the early 80s. At one point on Sunday, van der Pol said, "I didn't feel very good for a while."

There is still time to close in on the seven 'cross titles held by Eric DeFlamink, who at age 26 has won three consecutive World Championships. It seemed certain that only van der Pol or van Aert would win the rainbow jersey. That prediction proved true, as the two left the rest of the field behind in the 200-second race.

During the opening lap, the two drivers fought closely and kept each other in check. Notably, Van der Pol temporarily sank into the North Sea during the seaside passage.

"The opening lap was too hot. My rule is to run with leg warmers if the temperature drops below 5°C. The app on my phone said the temperature felt like -3°C, but it didn't feel like that at all. A couple of times I even intentionally ran in the ocean to cool everything down," van der Pol explained.

"I debated for a long time whether or not to run with leg warmers. In the end, I became one of the few riders to run with leg warmers. I prefer being too warm than too cold."

On the second lap, Van der Pol took his first hit. He got stuck in the sand just before a huge flyover with a gradient of 21 degrees. Van Aert drove through the sand and shook off the Dutch ace, and although a mere three-second gap seemed not worth mentioning, Van Aert forced Van der Pol to bridge hard.

"I was surprised by the course I followed. The course was quite deep. I wasn't at my limit at that point. I got stuck in the sand and Van Art took a nice gap.

Suddenly, Van der Pol went over the handlebars on a muddy grass section of the Hippodrome and was hit for the second time.

"My judgment wasn't good, but I lost the right track," Van der Pol said, laughing as he watched a replay of the crash. I crashed, but I wasn't hurt. It wasn't fun to crash and lose another gap. I didn't feel demoralized. I knew I could still come back."

"I knew I could still come back.

At the beginning of the third lap, van der Pol was nearly 20 seconds ahead of van Aert, and at this point there were few bets on the defending champion. Nevertheless, a successful passage through the sand before the second ascent of the bridge brought him to within 10 seconds of Van Aert.

Apart from the time loss during the crash, the fact that he had to pit to get a new car led to further time loss.

"The crash broke my saddle. I decided not to replace it in the first pit area because it would have cost me five seconds of time.

Upon entering the Hippodrome, Van der Pol switched cars and the gap to Van Aert increased to 13 seconds. It was later discovered that Van Aert was driving in the same pit area when he noticed a flat tire. Van der Pol quickly regained his position and passed Van Aert before the end of the third lap.

"I was a little out of sorts," van der Pol said. But I felt I could fix the situation. I didn't panic after the fall. It was because Wout had a flat tire. I was lucky that Wout had a flat tire so I was able to catch up to him economically. It's a shame it had to come to that," the Dutch rider said.

"As the laps went by I got stronger and started to get the hang of the course. In the second half of the race I felt like I was in control of the race. Looking at the second half of the race, it would have been possible for him to come back without a puncture, but maybe it would have been a more thrilling race."

Van Aert switched cars as they entered the fourth lap, giving Van der Pol an 11-second bonus. This fourth lap was a thrilling one, as the two giants were able to catch up, with Van Aert slowly closing the gap.

On the final sandy section, Van Aert did not ride smoothly, while Van der Pol pedaled off on a steep uphill, but he did not lose his rhythm and rode skillfully The gap at the end of the fourth lap was still about 8 seconds.

Going into the fifth lap, Van Aert was all over the place, and just before reaching the sand section before the second uphill, he was within three seconds, but then got stuck in the sand and saw Van der Pol ride away. Van der Pol felt that was the difference between winning and losing on Sunday.

"I got through it. I said before the race that it would be the most decisive section." I was able to make a difference by riding through it well, going through the track, and getting stuck in the sand. It was also the section where Van Aert got away from me when I got stuck. It was the most important section of the course today

"If you go fast in the sand, you can reach the bridge with less lactic acid in your legs. On the other hand, if you get stuck in the sand, you lose time there, your legs are full of lactic acid, and you have to speed up to get over the bridge. The sum total of these things adds up to a difference of 15 to 20 seconds," van der Pol said.

Each lap, Van Aat struggled in that section, while Van der Pol ran a smooth line.

Van der Pol explained that he liked the approach to the World Championships because of the proximity of the race location and the short preparation time for the big event.

"It was ideal. Yesterday I was still at home playing games. In the evening I had a stress-free drive to the team hotel with my girlfriend. For me, that's a lot more fun than arriving at the team hotel on Wednesday and being in the World atmosphere every day. Over the last few years, I've gotten better at handling these situations and I'm more relaxed going into the race," van der Pol said.

He is now looking to return home before focusing on the road season with the Alpecin Phoenix team.

"I'm taking a week off. At the end of the month I will be on the UAE Tour. From there we will gradually get better. We have to be careful because sometimes, like in Valencia, races that our team was supposed to compete in are cancelled," van der Pol said.

When asked about his goals, he named Ronde van Vlaanderen and his first appearance in Paris-Roubaix. He named Ronde van Vlaanderen and his first participation in Paris-Roubaix. 'I'm really looking forward to Roubaix, which will be my first time participating, but I also have my sights set on defending my title in Ronde.'