Mathieu van der Pol said the rivalry between himself and Wout van Aert will be a "special one" he can look back on at the end of his career.

On Sunday, with little separating the rivals, van der Pol beat van Aert in a sprint finish in Hoogerheide to win the elite men's 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships.

This was the Dutchman's fifth elite world title and the last exchange of the cyclocross season before the two return to road action during the spring classics. By comparison, Van Aert has three elite cross world titles and lost his fourth to a rival in second place.

"It sure makes the race less interesting when you take away one of the two of us," Van der Pol said with delight. 'He's a really hard racer to beat.

"I've been doing cyclocross and road for a few years and I'm already getting better. We may not appreciate it when we lose, but when we look back on our career, it will be special."

Throughout the race, both riders attempted to attack their rivals, but their opponents responded each time. Van der Pol was clearly faster than Van Aert on the barrier section of the final lap. However, the Dutchman remained until the final uphill sprint, where he was strong enough to pass the Belgian.

"I didn't make a plan beforehand. Lars [van der Haar] was fast on the opening lap and I felt really good, so I rode the hardest part of the course.

"I didn't have to fight for position today, so it was nice to be down to two guys right away. I didn't have to fight for position today. It was obvious that I wasn't going to drop him and vice versa. I tried a few times and everyone was expecting me to try something on the barriers, but I wanted to be in second place going into the finish straight. 10 or 15 meters I wouldn't be able to drop him, so he would come back into my circle on the stairs and he would have the advantage. That was my plan

"Sometimes I tried to put pressure [over the barriers], but it's not like Wout couldn't jump. If he got off the bike, he could really do something. He was also really fast on the wheels, so there was no point in trying anything there. The rest of the course was much more difficult."

Van der Pol was runner-up five times to Van Aert, who competed over the Christmas period with Tom Pidcock.

After an intense spell of racing, the Dutchman took a break from cyclocross to prepare for the World Championships after his back problems returned after a run in the sand in Zonhoven.

"During the Christmas period everyone said Wout was stronger than me," he said. The moment I left for Spain, I tried to flip the switch and focus on this race; I needed to work on my therapy and exercises for a couple of weeks."

"I was very happy with the results," he said.

"I went to the gym almost every day, rather than riding my bike or doing any other training.

Despite being crowned world cyclocross champion, van der Pol said it meant nothing when he began his Classics campaign in Strade Bianche.

The Dutch star's road season includes Milan-San Remo, Tour de Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix. Van der Pol is targeting "all of them" and said his cyclocross world title will mean nothing next month.

He added, "I'm not sure." There are only five or six races and I want to do the best I can.

"I'm really happy to be world champion, but it has nothing to do with the road season. I'm starting from scratch again and I want to have a good race in the road season."