Wout Van Aert (Visma - Lease a Bike) struggled with the pace of successive attacks as he finished sixth in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Dendermonde, as dry conditions resulted in a criterium-style race.
The 31-year-old failed to drop his rivals during a persistent effort as a front group of 10 riders remained together throughout the race.
It was youngster Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) who was quickest on the final lap, after battling his way to the front of the group and sprinting to victory.
After beating Van Aert in a narrow sprint at Heusden-Zolder five days earlier, 22-year-old Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin – Deceuninck) finished runner-up, a career best World Cup placing.
"It was a difficult course," said Van Aert afterwards. “The first 10 riders were close together. It could just as well have been a different result. But I came here to compete for the win and I never did.
"I think everyone tried attacking once. But making a real difference was almost impossible. I was better in the second half of the race, better in position.
"But two laps from the end, I let myself be done a little too much, I was too far back in the group, and then my race was actually already done.
"The feeling was not great, less than the past few days. I had trouble with the explosive attack and was not so aggressive.
"I had trouble with the succession of accelerations. It is not going to be faster than this kind of cross, sprinting from corner to corner.
"Then other guys come to the surface, but I just wasn't at my best."
Coming into the race, Van Aert had a perfect record on the soft ground in Dendermonde with three wins in as many appearances.
However, hard ground made for contrasting conditions and a criterium style race with lap times of just over five minutes.
"From the previous editions, I never thought that I would come here without any mud," Van Aert said beforehand.
"It was very hard when it was muddy like last year, maybe it was a bit too much, I kind of liked it.
"Today the track contains too few natural obstacles, it will be really fast and come down to the finer details."
Van Aert is without a win this cyclo-cross season, with world champion Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) absent from the last two of his races.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is set to battle against his long-term rival at Loenhout tomorrow (December 29), at Mol on January 2, and Zonhoven on January 4.
When asked about his chances of coming away with a victory this cyclo-cross season? The three-time world champion added, "Winning is always hard. If Mathieu doesn't participate, the chance is greater for others to win, but beating the rest is also difficult. I hope to be better in Loenhout than today."
Van Aert is then set to conclude his 'cross campaign in the Belgian national championships in Beringen on January 11.
Last season, Van Aert extended his campaign to take on Van der Poel at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. This year they take place in Hulst on February 1.
Belgian national coach Angelo De Clercq still hopes that Van Aert will extend his programme to include the world championships and lead his nation.
"I still hope that Wout will start in Hulst. Now when I make my pre-selection, I fill in his name in pencil,” De Clercq told Sporza.
"I don't think it's completely out of the question that he will go to the world championships, but a final selection will be made around the Belgian championships. Then we'll see if Wout is there or not."
However, after being beaten in consecutive races, if cold conditions and freezing ground continue in the forthcoming weeks in the Netherlands, then Van Aert might decide to stick to his original schedule.
De Clercq hopes that Van Aert can get some confidence from battling against Van der Poel in the next few days.
"Maybe there will come a time when Van Aert gets a confidence boost by going along with Van der Poel for a long time in Loenhout or Zonhoven.
"That may completely change that feeling for him. Every opportunity that comes is one to be seized. It would be another world championship that is gone. I still hope that Wout will be at the start.
"Not only is Wout important to us in terms of sport, but he is also a leader. All the youngsters look up to him and it's very important to have him with us to such a championship."
