Progress against the field
Between Rotterdam 2025 and Mechelen 2026, Patrick Van Ael lost 2:01 to the field.
The clock says 10:56 faster, but the races themselves got 12:57 quicker for everyone.
The longest gap between two races compared here, 204 days between Rotterdam 2025 and Maastricht 2025, still ended 5:41 ahead of the field.
How this is worked out ⓘ
A finish time moves for two reasons: the athlete, and the race — its course, its floor, its day. For each pair of races in a row in one category, we take everyone who raced both and use the middle of how much they moved (the median) as "the race". Whatever is left is the athlete. Doubles are compared only when the same two people raced both, and told as the pair's; relays are left out. A pair with fewer than 15 athletes in common is not shown.
Every race
5 races · 5 events
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Mechelen26 Mar 2026Individual Open · Men1:21:23 PB637/1363Beat 53%
↑ 104 days after Gent 2025 0:22 better than the field Why ↓Close ↑
4:53 faster on the clock, and the race was 4:31 faster for everyone, so 0:22 of it was this athlete.
The fieldCompare these two →4:31 faster This athlete4:53 faster -
Gent12 Dec 2025Individual Open · Men1:26:16816/1428Beat 43%
↑ 14 days after Utrecht 2025 1:53 worse than the field Faster on the clock, behind the field Why ↓Close ↑
2:37 faster on the clock looks better than it was: the race was 4:30 faster for everyone, which leaves this 1:53 behind the field.
The fieldCompare these two →4:30 faster This athlete2:37 faster -
Utrecht28 Nov 2025Individual Open · Men1:28:53295/575Beat 49%
↑ 70 days after Maastricht 2025 6:11 worse than the field Why ↓Close ↑
2:35 slower on the clock in a race that was 3:36 faster for everyone: 6:11 lost to the field.
The fieldCompare these two →3:36 faster This athlete2:35 slower -
Maastricht19 Sep 2025Individual Open · Men1:26:18542/1352Beat 60%
↑ 204 days after Rotterdam 2025 5:41 better than the field Why ↓Close ↑
5:41 better than the field: 6:01 faster on the clock, against 0:20 faster for everyone.
The fieldCompare these two →0:20 faster This athlete6:01 faster -
Rotterdam27 Feb 2025Individual Open · Men1:32:19376/584Beat 36%