This past Sunday, Thibau Nys slipped into the background of the 2025/26 cyclocross season. Until then, he had been, without question, the discipline’s standout star. But his string of wins vanished in an instant with the return of Mathieu van der Poel, who beat him in his first race of the campaign at the UCI World Cup in Namur.
Most analysts agree that Sven Nys’s son has run out of bullets, at least in races where he lines up against the seven-time world champion. But Mathieu’s father, Adrie van der Poel, twisted the knife further after that latest defeat. He did so with a blunt assessment in comments to In de Leiderstrui: "It was his best chance."
His best chance to beat Mathieu van der Poel, that is. The reason? He is unlikely to face a more "out-of-race-shape" version of the Dutchman than the one he met in Namur.
"I’m also thinking about the next races; this is the one that suits Thibau Nys best. Short, explosive, and technical. Mathieu can do that too, but he’ll need about five races [to get the hang of things again]," Adrie van der Poel explained.
Mathieu van der Poel returned to cyclocross with victory at the UCI World Cup in Namur
His son’s level in Namur
Beyond his remarks about Thibau Nys, Adrie focused mainly on the level shown by his son on his cyclocross return: "I think it was a calculated win. I also think his physical condition is good, but he doesn’t have that cyclocross feel yet. You just get carried along by riders who’ve been racing for a while. It’s not the easiest race to start with, so I think he can be very satisfied."
"His best lap was also the final lap, when he was leading, of course. Then you only have to account for one person, and that person is yourself. Look, if you’re fourth, you already have three chances that someone crashes. For example, on the banked descent," he concluded.
In reality, the races Mathieu van der Poel is riding now and in the coming weeks are all preparation for his big (and only) target: the 2026 Worlds in Hulst. If he wins, the Dutchman will surpass Erik De Vlaeminck as the rider with the most world titles in history (they currently share the throne with seven apiece).
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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