Cyclocross powerhouse Mathieu van der Pol has a history of winning streaks in his career, dating back to his amateur days in 2010-11. Last year, he won 24 of 25 races, his third Elite World Championship, his second European Championship, and his sixth Dutch title. The only race he did not conquer was third place at the Hotondcross last December.

This year, the Alpecin Phoenix rider started his abbreviated 10-event cross calendar with a win in the sand race at Scheldecross on Saturday after a break in his road cycling campaign. But the usual storyline leading to the defense of the rainbow jersey took a sharp turn on Sunday. Van der Poel did not go 2-for-2 on the weekend, finishing second in the Superprestige Gabre behind young British rider Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing).

"I am happy with my crosses. Pidcock was really impressive and strong, and second place is a great result for me," said the world champion in a post-race interview reported by Het Newsblad.

"Today was a lot of hard work for me. Tom's run was very impressive. Tom's pace was very fast.

The 21-year-old Briton was the silver medalist at the Elite Cyclocross World Championships in February, finishing second behind Van der Pol. Van der Pol admitted that he was not sharp on the course, perhaps due to fatigue on the second day of a series of races.

"He kept hurting me with his running piece," the Dutchman said of Pidcock's dominant performance. 'Because of a mistake on the technical passage after the running lane on lap 6, I couldn't keep up anymore and he got away from me. He pulled away from me.

"I was still tired from Saturday. It's certainly not easy to double up right away on your first weekend cross. Yesterday's match was a bit of an attack for my body and I didn't feel 100 percent recovered. It wasn't totally unexpected that I was in worse shape today than I was yesterday. My legs were getting worse faster. I was able to ride a good cross.

Pidcock took the lead from the start and set a fast pace until a mistake by a Dutch rider on lap 6 widened the gap to over 14 seconds and then to 25 seconds.

"You can't always win everything. Today I met someone stronger and was able to withstand it," Van der Pol added. Of course we wanted to win two in a row, but you can't always win. Of course I wanted to win two in a row, but you don't always win the prize money."

The long-awaited duel between van der Poer and Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) will take place next weekend, December 20, in the second round of the World Cup in Namur. Van Aert finished third in the first round in Tabor and did not race this weekend; the two last met on the road in October at the Tour of Flanders, where van der Pol won a sprint win by one wheel over his rival.

The cyclocross showdown may not be a two-man battle now that the new script is certain to include Pidcock.

"Pidcock is one of the favorites to win next week in Namur. He was very strong today and I think next week will be a prelude. He will find a course that suits him."