{"id":204608,"date":"2026-01-26T10:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T10:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204608"},"modified":"2026-01-26T11:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:20:53","slug":"doubles-for-van-der-poel-and-pieterse-on-final-world-cup-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/01\/26\/doubles-for-van-der-poel-and-pieterse-on-final-world-cup-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Doubles for Record-Breaker van der Poel and Pieterse on Final World Cup Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m starting this overview of the weekend\u2019s four World Cup races with Saturday\u2019s Elite Men\u2019s race because it was a remarkably dramatic contest that reminded us of why we love cyclocross and because it demonstrated the overwhelming superiority of Mathieu van der Poel and the undeniable fact that, as the legendary Sven Nys put it, \u201cHe is the greatest cyclocross rider who has ever raced.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Van der Poel ties the record<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nys was asked for his comments before the race at the Maasmechelen course because van der Poel (Alpecin\u2013Premier Tech) was going for World Cup victory number 50, the record held by the great Belgian \u2013 and then matched by the world champion. But it wasn\u2019t easy; to win, he had to pull out a performance that proved Nys\u2019s 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\u2019s son Thibau (Baloise Verzekeringen\u2013Het Poetsbureau Lions ) having to dismount near the top.<\/p>\n

The first puncture, on lap 4 of 9, \u00a0was 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>It’s nice, but it cost me a bit more energy than I expected,\u201d he said. \u201cI had two flat tyres, both on a really bad moment after the pit, and it was really long and hard on the legs to get the job done. I was just calculating in my head all the sections I still had to do, and it was two really long stretches. I wasn\u2019t <\/span>too stressed about the gap, but more about closing it and then the chance to have another flat tyre again. After the first one, I was extra cautious, but it still happened again. I definitely had some stones today.\u201d<\/div>\n

No one else riding \u2018cross today could have overcome two flats to win. Van der Poel will be going for the Elite Men\u2019s World Championship record of eight next Sunday. There wasn\u2019t much doubt about his winning on February 1 before Saturday\u2019s performance, but now there is none at all.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, del Grosso finished second at 3 seconds, with Vandeputte coming third, 4 seconds adrift, making it a clean podium sweep for Alpecin\u2013Premier Tech. Nys made too many errors and finished fourth, at 6 seconds.<\/p>\n

An easy race to break the record<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fortunately for van der Poel, Sunday\u2019s 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 \u2013 and, as they say, that\u2019s all she wrote.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In addition to breaking Nys\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Pieterse doubles as Brand falters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The big news out of Saturday\u2019s Elite Women\u2019s race at Maasmechelen was that Lucinda Brand\u2019s<\/a> 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\u2019s race, which she announced<\/a> on her Instagram page. It\u2019s unclear if she will ride in Saturday\u2019s World Championship. The Baloise Verzekeringen\u2013Het Poetsbureau Lions rider had already clinched the season\u2019s World Cup title before the weekend.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Lucinda Brand (@lucinda_brand)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n