Mathieu van der Poel has claimed Sunday’s UCI World Cup Cyclocross Namur. On his cyclocross season debut, the reigning world champion defeated Thibau Nys and Michael Vanthourenhout.
At the start of the Citadel cross, Toon Vandebosch took the lead, while Van der Poel wasted little time to move through the field from an unfavourable starting position. By the second lap, the Dutchman had already caught up to early leader Michael Vanthourenhout as part of a 10-rider lead pack.
Lars van Der Haar caused a split on lap three with a burst of acceleration, which was answered by Van der Poel, Vanthourenhout and Thibau Nys. There was a brief moment of panic when Van der Poel crashed twenty minutes into the contest, but the Dutchman quickly reclaimed his place at the front.
Nys was also briefly held up by a lapped rider, but the four leaders started the three remaining laps in close formation. With two laps to go, Nys went on the attack, with only Van der Poel able to answer. Their pace soon slowed down again, allowing their two colleagues to rejoin ahead of the final lap.
The race was decided when Nys crashed, which was the sign for Van der Poel to accelerate and ride off to his first victory of the season on his very first attempt. Nys finished second ahead of Vanthourenhout. It was 30-year-old Van der Poel’s sixth victory in Namur and his first since he last took part in 2020, when he beat Wout van Aert and Britain’s Tom Pidcock.
In the UCI Cyclocross World Cup rankings, Nys remains on top with 110 points, ahead of Vanthourenhout and Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis, both on 93 points.
Three Belgian victories in the youth categories
In the youth categories, the victories went to three Belgians. Jari Van Lee won the men’s junior race ahead of Bas Vanden Eynde and Flynn Delanghe, while the U17 and U16 wins went to Lars Peers (U17) and Mats Becqué (U16).
