Belgian champion Wout van Aert admitted he was puzzled by rival Mathieu van der Pol's tactics in the elite men's UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide on Sunday.

Van Aart had predicted that his Dutch nemesis would use bunny-hopping to create a crucial gap in the final section before the uphill sprint finish. But when the moment came, Van der Pol held on to second place, surprising Van Aart.

"In my head I always thought I would be second in the sprint because of the placement of the barriers," Van der Pol said. I was so focused on that that I got a little confused and forgot to ride my sprint."

Reflecting on the loss of his fourth world championship title in the elite race to a rival again, Van Aert thought he should have sprinted first when he hit the pavement on the final straight to the line.

"If I sprinted straight out of the corner, maybe Mathieu would pass me. [I feel like I could have won because we came together at the end of the race and I still had a chance. I got into his slipstream, but I couldn't make it. I had a 48-inch front ring on the back and as soon as Mathieu passed me I started changing gears, but I didn't have enough gears."

Van der Pol attacked several times during the race in an attempt to drop his rival, but Van Aert responded each time. The Belgian said he was unable to attack himself and left it to the final sprint.

"It was a really tough race for me, Mathieu put me under pressure from the first lap.

"The first half of the race was difficult and because of that I didn't feel like doing anything. The race was pretty fast, so there was no point in trying anything."

"There is always a reason for things. I think he was stronger than me at the end of the race."

In the run up to the race, the barriers were marked as places where Van der Pol could pull away from his rivals. The course and its man-made elements were designed by Adrie van der Poel, the 1996 elite men's cross world champion and Mathieu's father. He added boards to the uphill near the finish, placing them 40 centimeters high instead of the 35 centimeters common in other races during the regular season.

However, on the critical day to decide the rainbow jersey, Van Aert managed to cancel the move on the barrier section and said it had no effect on the final result.

"It was just like any other race, Mathieu jumps a little faster because he is good at jumping," Van Aert added.

Van Aert will now concentrate on his road campaign, competing more against Van der Pol in the early season classics.

Like Van der Pol, the Belgian will start his season next month at Strade Bianche, and the two will also meet in Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix.

Van Aert says that with only four weeks until their first road race, they can forget about finishing second in the cyclocross world championships.

"I don't need that as motivation for the road season," he said.

"One good thing about this race being over really early is that the riders who finished second are really happy and the riders who finished second are really disappointed, which is to be expected.