Everything about Michael Vanthourenhout

Who is Michael Vanthourenhout?

Michael Vanthourenhout, born December 10, 1993, is a Belgian cyclo-cross rider who competes for Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal. He is known for his technical skills and strong performance in muddy and tough conditions. Vanthourenhout has won several victories in the Superprestige and the X2O Badkamers Trofee, and he became European cyclocross champion in 2022.

Name: Michael Vanthourenhout
Date of birth: December 10, 1993
Birthplace: Bruges, Belgium
Turned pro: 2012
Height: 1.82m

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Michael Vanthourenhout wins the Elite Men Race at the 2023 European Cyclocross Championships

Michael Vanthourenhout was born December 10 in Belgium, he is from the city of Bruges. Vanthourenhout has not only ridden off-road, but has built his professional career from his talents on the cyclocross bike. He currently rides for Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal and his contract runs until the end of the CX season. He is married to Kelly Van Den Steen and the couple has one child together. His brother Diether Vanthourenhout is a former professional cyclist and his cousin Sven Vanthourenhout was also a very successful cyclocross rider and is the current national coach of the Belgian national team.

His career began at BKCP-Powerplus (the current Alpecin-Deceuninck team). In the 2011-2012 season he became an under-23 rider and took his first win in the Hotondcross that season. In the 2012-2013 season he finished 3rd in the Bpost Bank Trophy and won 4 races during the season, beating the likes of Wout van Aert and Laurens Sweeck.

In 2013-2014 he kept up his under-23 calendar, with one win being his first World Cup victory at the Valkenburg circuit. and a second at the European Championships in Miada Boleslav where he beat Mathieu van der Poel. In 2014-2015, his last season as an under-23, he won both World Cup and Superprestige Cups, a very successful season with 6 wins including the under-23 World Championship in Tabor where he beat Laurens Sweeck and his first Elite victory in the Kermiscross Ardooie.

In 2015-2016 he became a full Elite rider. Nevertheless, it was a strong season with a victory in the Parkcross Maldegem and a podium in his very first race which happened to be the World Cup race in Las Vegas. He also finished 4th at the European Championships in Huijbergen. In 2016-2017 he finished 4th in the World Cup and 3rd at the DVV Verzekeringen Trophy, also picked up two wins in the Polderscross Kruibeke and a victory in Luxembourg.

With Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel capturing much of the calendar, Vanthourenhout never had many chances to win. In 2017-2018 he didn't pick up a win all year, but he did ride to a 2nd place at the World Championship in Valkenburg behind Wout van Aert and a 4th place in the World Cup. In 2018-2019 he rode to a 3rd place at the DVV Trophy as his best overall result, he finished 4th at both the European Championship and World Cup but remained winless all season.

In 2019-2020 he returned to his way of winning, he won the French Canyon Cross Race Vittel, but the following weekend he also won a Belgian race in the Berencross Meulebeke. This year he rode to a 3rd place in the World Cup and a 2nd place at the DVV Trophy, while finishing 4th and 6th respectively at the European and World Championships.

In 2020-2021, Vanthourenhout delivered the impressive performance by finishing 3rd in all three competitions - World Cup, Superprestige and X2O Baths. Vanthourenhout rode to a 2nd place at the European Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch and a 6th place at the World Championships. This was the year he took his first World Cup victory in Tabor by beating Eli Iserbyt and Wout van Aert. He picked up victories in the EKZ CrossTour Bern and Superprestige Merksplas, in addition to his traditional consistency which saw him finish all races in 8th place or better.

In 2021-2022, Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal became the overwhelmingly dominant team in the field for most of the year. Vanthourenhout took advantage of this, picking up victories in the Berencross Meulebeke, the World Cup of Namur, the X2O Trophy Brussels Universities and the Waaslandcross. Vanthourenhout rode to a 2nd place in the World Cup and a 3rd place at the X2O Bathrooms Trophy and placed 3rd and 4th respectively at the Europeans and Worlds.

In 2022-2023, he won early in the season in the Polderscross and Berencross. In early November he started the European Championships as a big contender and after a very tough and muddy race against Lars van der Haar, he took the title in Namen and became the new European Champion. This was a trigger that only served the Pauwels - Sauzen Bingoal rider well. Vanthourenhout won little but good this season. Two weeks later, he won the Overijse World Cup race ahead of Tom Pidcock. A month later, he won again in his European champion jersey on the snowy Val di Sole course. In mid-January, another month later, Vanthourenhout became the new Belgian national champion - although he didn't really get to wear the jersey because of his success elsewhere. He took his final victory of the season in the Parkcross Maldegem. Vanthourenhout was second in the World Cup and finished third in the Superprestige and X2O Bathrooms Trophy.

The 2023-2024 cyclocross season began in a similar fashion. Vanthourenhout showed a few strong performances, but his first month and a half of racing saw no wins and a few mediocre performances. He entered the European Championships as an outsider, but he stormed to a second consecutive victory - this time in a muddy Pontchâteau course - alone, once again capturing the Europeans. It was a season with plenty inconsistencies but the experienced rider showed his quality, winning in Zonnebeke and Sint-Niklaas; at the World Championships he was third behind Mathieu van der Poel and Joris Nieuwenhuis.

He started off the 2024-2025 season strongly, taking on his second opportunity a victory at the Kermiscross Ardooie.