Van der Poel ties the record
Nys was asked for his comments before the race at the Maasmechelen course because van der Poel (Alpecin–Premier Tech) was going for World Cup victory number 50, the record held by the great Belgian – and then matched by the world champion. But it wasn’t easy; to win, he had to pull out a performance that proved Nys’s declaration. Van der Poel had to overcome two punctures that cost him an estimated 30 seconds of time, plus an unlucky slip down a tricky camber climb, caused involuntarily by Sven’s son Thibau (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions ) having to dismount near the top.
The first puncture, on lap 4 of 9, was the worst, as it affected his front tyre when he was quite a distance from the pit lane. What had been a lead of about 7 seconds over teammate Tibor del Grosso and perhaps twice that over a chase group that included Nys and another Alpecin rider, Niels Vandeputte, turned into a lag of 13 seconds to del Grosso and 5 seconds to Nys et al. at the end of the lap.
Del Grosso led Nys and Vandeputte by 6 seconds at the end of lap 5, with van der Poel at 11 seconds. But the defending world champion caught the two chasers on the next lap, and shortly thereafter the three of them joined del Grosso at the front. But van der Poel was too close to Nys’s wheel as the Belgian had to dismount at the top of that camber climb (which plagued him all race), and slid down the rise, losing more time.
But van der Poel was in overdrive now. He rejoined the leaders and attacked again on lap 7, quickly opening a gap, which ballooned to 13 seconds at the start of lap 8. But then he suffered his second puncture, this time of the rear wheel and closer to the pit lane, so that he still had a lead after the bike change and was never troubled again. He crossed the finish line with a smile and a wipe of the brow.
No one else riding ‘cross today could have overcome two flats to win. Van der Poel will be going for the Elite Men’s World Championship record of eight next Sunday. There wasn’t much doubt about his winning on February 1 before Saturday’s performance, but now there is none at all.
Oh yes, del Grosso finished second at 3 seconds, with Vandeputte coming third, 4 seconds adrift, making it a clean podium sweep for Alpecin–Premier Tech. Nys made too many errors and finished fourth, at 6 seconds.
An easy race to break the record
Fortunately for van der Poel, Sunday’s race at Hoogerheide went much more smoothly and more typically, with the present and future world champion taking off on his own shortly after the start of lap 3 of 9 – and, as they say, that’s all she wrote.
His lead at the end of lap 3 was 14 seconds; it was 46 seconds at the end of lap 5 and 1:20 at the end of lap 7. He held the same advantage at the end of the race over second-place del Grosso and third-placed Vandeputte, as Alpecin-Deceuninck registered its second podium 1-2-3 of the weekend.
As usual in a van der Poel race, the battle for second provided all the suspense as the chase group eventually grew to 14 riders, with Nys, del Grosso and Vandeputte only pulling in front at the end. Nys had the lead at the start of the finishing straight, but that’s the wrong place to be in a sprint, and he was passed by both Alpecin riders on the line. A total of nine riders finished within seven seconds of second place.
In addition to breaking Nys’s record, the victory also secured the World Cup series win for van der Poel, who finished with 320 points after winning all eight races he rode in. Nys finished second with 264 points and Vandeputte was third with 247.
Pieterse doubles as Brand falters
The big news out of Saturday’s Elite Women’s race at Maasmechelen was that Lucinda Brand’s streak of 63 podiums in a row is over after a crash in a sand pit on lap 2 of 6 caused her to lose time to the leaders and she did not have her usual power to chase them down. She also came out of the race with a calf injury, which led her to pull out of Sunday’s race, which she announced on her Instagram page. It’s unclear if she will ride in Saturday’s World Championship. The Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions rider had already clinched the season’s World Cup title before the weekend.
Zobrazit příspěvek na Instagramu
The other big news was that Puck Pieterse is a strong candidate for that World Championship race, especially if Brand does not recover. The Fenix–Premier Tech rider proved to be the strongest at the end of the six intense laps, though she had to overcome two minor crashes that allowed Amandine Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) to catch her. But a puncture at the end of lap 5 eventually cost the French rider a chance at the win, and she was passed by Pieterse’s teammate Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado near the end. Alvarado finished 10 seconds adrift, with Fouquenet in third place on 11 seconds.
In Sunday’s Elite Women’s race at Hoogerheide, 21 riders rode in front for four of the ultrafast seven laps, until an attack by Pieterse broke up the scrum. She, Fouquenet and Sarah Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) went clear at the start of lap 5, but were soon joined by six others. Casasola crashed on a tricky turn at the end of a steep descent and never threatened again, but Zoe Bäckstedt (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto), Kristyna Zemanová, Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions) and 19-year-old Viktória Chladonová (Visma–Lease a Bike) of Slovakia – last year’s road race and ITT world championship runner-up – joined the lead group.
Pieterse, Fouquenet and Zemanová opened a small gap on the final lap and rode together until the Dutch rider attacked coming out of a corner and quickly opened a gap. She was followed by the surprising young Czech rider and a tired Fouquenet. That was the order of finish, with Zemanová finishing 6 seconds behind and Fouquenet at 10 seconds, just ahead of the fast-closing Bäckstedt.
“Fouquenet rode a tactical race, so they kept coming back from behind,” Pieterse told sporza.be. “I think I went through the corners a little better, that made the difference.” Asked about the upcoming World Championship, where she will be one of the favourites, she said, “That title has always been the goal. It will be a hard-fought battle.”
Zemanová was delighted with her first-ever World Cup podium finish, telling Sporza, “This is unbelievable. However, I didn’t feel so good during the race, so it is also a big surprise for methat I finished second here. A podium place in the World Cup is really a dream come true.”
Top 3 Elite Men – Maasmechelen CX World Cup 2026
- Mathieu van der Poel, Alpecin–Premier Tech 1:03:52
- Tibor del Grosso, Alpecin–Premier Tech +0:03
- Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin–Premier Tech +0:04
Top 3 Elite Women – Maasmechelen CX World Cup 2026
- Puck Pieterse, Fenix–Premier Tech 47:33
- Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado, Fenix–Premier Tech +0:10
- Amandine Fouquenet, Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw +0:11
Top 3 Elite Men – Hoogerheide CX World Cup 2026
- Mathieu van der Poel, Alpecin–Premier Tech 48:41
- Tibor del Grosso, Alpecin–Premier Tech +1:20
- Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin–Premier Tech “
Top 3 Elite Women – Hoogerheide CX World Cup 2026
- Puck Pieterse, Fenix–Premier Tech 51:54
- Kristyna Zemanová+0:06
- Amandine Fouquenet, Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw +0:10
