"I think this record really resonates with him": Nieuwenhuis praises the "living legend" Mathieu van der Poel

Mathieu van der Poel dominated the 2026 cyclocross World Championships ahead of Tibor del Grosso and Thibau Nys. The trio was clearly in a league of their own compared to the rest of the field where Joris Nieuwenhuis proved strongest and rose to a honorable 4th place. However in retrospective, the 29-year-old feels like more was possible on Sunday.

"To be honest, I felt there was more in it, because I had a bad start and was having a lot of trouble with my back," Nieuwenhuis told Wieler Revue. "Physically, I felt good, but it didn't really show. I couldn't dig deep, except during that sprint at the end. Earlier this year, my back had completely stopped me from moving forward, but now I was able to finish fourth. Not that it was bothering me too much, but you're still a bit set back."

The race opened up already in its first lap as the eventual medalists left the everyone else far behind trying to keep up with a high pace set by Van der Poel. The others, including Nieuwenhuis chose to follow a more moderate pace, but later grew to regret it as Nys with Del Grosso were simply out of their reach in the second half of the race.

Still, Nieuwenhuis is confident he could've gone for a medal had he experienced at least a bit better day. "I just didn't have that. I also think I'm past my peak form. I've had a busy period, and changing teams took a lot of energy."

Just one year younger than Van der Poel, Nieuwenhuis spent most of his career racing in the shadow of his older compatriot. While that made the career of Nieuwenhuis slightly less accomplished, it put him in a perfect position to be able to fully admire Van der Poel's generational talent which never faded.

"I've always seen Mathieu win. With the novices, juniors, U23s, elite... At some point, you start to consider that normal, but what he's doing is obviously not normal. It's truly bizarre; he's a living legend."

Among the cyclocross riders, Van der Poel's performances are almost becoming normal, Nieuwenhuis agrees. But it still is impossible for anyone to really step forward to challenge the Dutchman, maybe except a healthy Wout Van Aert at times. "He starts here, even though we all know how he's going to do it. And he does it. Something can always happen in cyclocross, but somehow it never does with him. He even has that under control."

Nieuwenhuis has said he's curious about what drives Van der Poel. He didn't ask him that question before the World Championships, but he has a hunch. "He sometimes says he's not interested in those lists, but I think this really resonates with him. This is something for history. He has eight world titles..."

With his victory, Van der Poel finally surpassed the '70s legend Eric De Vlaeminck who held the crown for best cyclocrosser of history for over 50 years. And while the world champion could be satisfied with this achievement, it wouldn't be a shock if he chose to round things off with a '10' next to his counter of rainbow jerseys...