Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) won his first cyclocross victory in the rainbow jersey at the X20 Trofee Kortrijk on Saturday, but the world champion has no time to rest on his laurels. On Sunday, he will face Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) for the first time this winter.

Given that even Pidcock needed a race to get up to speed last weekend, it remains to be seen how Van der Poel will perform in his first outing this winter. After finishing seventh in his Superprestige Merckxplus debut, Pidcock overcame mechanical problems to finish second in the Overy's World Cup the following day.

At Kortrijk on Saturday, Pidcock was at the top of his game and drove solo to the win. In a flash interview afterward, Pidcock suggested that van der Pol could be a factor in the race at Hulst.

"Definitely, we can expect a good Mathieu. I don't know exactly where he will start on the grid, but I am sure he will run well," Pidcock said.

When Pidcock won the Hulst World Cup last season, van der Pol was sidelined with an injury. Wout van Aert, another of cyclocross' big three, will miss Hulst this season, and the Jumbo-Visma rider will not start winter until Antwerp on December 4.

At Kortrijk on Saturday, Pidcock rode alone for more than half of the race, his advantage over Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) and Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sausen-Bingor) never exceeding 17 seconds.

"We made a little bit of a gap, but we couldn't widen it. I knew that with those two together, they would go for the overall win." It was a hard race, just like last Saturday. But it was much better than that (for me).

"I was tired and a little out of shape this week. It's getting colder and I was still in good shape today, so that's good."

Pidcock started the cyclocross season a little earlier than in 2021, when he didn't put his number on until the December boom. Pidcock joked after his seventh-place finish that "every time I do my first race of the year, I feel like I'm numb." On Saturday, he admitted that his form has improved over this time last year.

"I think I'm definitely in better shape this year. Last week, Michael [Vanthourenhout] showed me how good he is on a course like that, and I think I was able to show that, if not win," Pidcock said.

"I enjoy racing in this jersey every day and it's a great experience. The Belgian fans are all very supportive of me and that's why I'm learning a little bit of Flemish. I'm going to enjoy this winter."