Today on the mud of Lievin, the anticipated showdown between Van Aert and Van der Poel never materialized: due to a bad start, the Belgian was never able to truly compete for the world championship jersey. The television images left no doubt, and Van Aert, with his shorts completely torn, must have had some problems in the early stages of the race.

"I was almost stuck on the barriers after the first turn. I lost a lot of time and had to struggle to get back to the others".

Van der Poel dominated the race and Van Aert, while crossing the finish line with a hand gesture, wanted to acknowledge his opponent's superiority. "The best won, he was by far the strongest of all".

Despite the initial difficulties, the Belgian continued his race and one by one managed to catch up with all the riders in front of him, except Van der Poel, who once again proved to be a unique champion.

"I continued to believe and tried to go as fast as possible to keep pressure on Mathieu. And I don't think I rode much slower than him. But in the second part of the race, you understand that to have luck and win, someone else must be unlucky. I couldn't keep up with him despite trying to recover as much as possible. But in the end, I think I rode well".

Van Aert had to settle for the silver medal, but he had no regrets about this result, certain that he had done his best and perhaps ridden the best cross of the season.

"The result of seven World Titles is something historic. Not for nothing did I take off my hat to him at the finish. No one thought a few years ago that this record would ever be reached. In a way, I'm also happy to have been here today. Mathieu came first and then I came, it's as if this was decided by destiny".