History in Lievin! Mathieu van der Poel obliterates the field to take record-equalling 7th CX World Championship title - Wout van Aert a distant 2nd

Cyclocross history has been made in Lievin! Mathieu van der Poel has taken the win at the 2025 World Championships, absolutely dominating the field from the first lap to secure a record-equalling 7th Rainbow Jersey victory. The much-anticipated dual between Van der Poel and Wout van Aert never really materialised though, as the Belgian took a distant 2nd place.

After a frantic start, it was Belgium's Toon Aerts who led through the opening corner. It didn't take long for the familiar figure of Mathieu van der Poel to get himself to the front though, trying to make the most of the fact Wout van Aert was already caught in traffic after having started on the 4th row. By the end of the opening lap, Van der Poel had already managed to force a 20 second lead on 2nd placed Laurens Sweeck, with Van Aert 46 seconds down in 16th with one lap down.

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Van Aert was definitely working his way through the field crossing the line for the end of lap 2 in 7th, but any hopes of a Rainbow Jersey already looked slim as Van der Poel just continued to accelerate away from the pack, extending his lead to around 45 seconds. Early on lap 3, Van Aert latched onto the chasing group, joining compatriots Michael Vanthourenhout, Thibau Nys, Laurens Sweeck and Emiel Verstrynge, plus Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis. As they crossed the line for the end of lap 3, Van Aert made his next attack, moving clear of the chase group and beginning his charge into the 46 second gap to Van der Poel.

As Van der Poel continued to sail clear solo, Van Aert and Nieuwenhuis were locked in an exciting battle for 2nd, as they traded the advantage with every pit change. On lap 5 though, Van Aert began to finally shake the Dutchman off of his back wheel and secure his 2nd play on the course. By the end of the lap, Nieuwenhuis did have Belgian company though, as Thibau Nys joined him in the race for the 3rd spot on the podium.

With the gold and the silver medals looking certain at the end of lap 6 as Van der Poel crossed 1:01 up on Van Aert, who in turn was 31 seconds clear of Nieuwenhuis and Nys, the battle for the bronze was looking like the only bit of drama left to be decided. With the two leaders managing to safely navigate the final few laps, it was Nys that was winning the race for third.

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