“Michael Vanthourenhout is in top condition” - But will Mathieu van der Poel put an end to Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal’s amazing season?
Cyclocross
With three of the ten rounds of the Cyclocross World Cup
already completed, Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal are in superb form. Michael
Vanthourenhout, their standout rider, currently leads the standings ahead of Toon
Aerts.
The team have been the standout at each race so far, with
Vanthourenhout and his teammates sweeping victory after victory, and Pauwels
Sauzen - Bingoal has not lost a single race since Urban Cross back in November. However,
the team faces a looming challenge over the busy Christmas period, as 6-time
world champion Mathieu van der Poel makes his long-awaited return to the
cyclocross field.
Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal’s team manager, Jurgen Mettepenningen,
shared his thoughts on Vanthourenhout’s performances and the team’s current
form with Wielerflits.
“Michael is in top condition,” says Mettepenningen. “He
doesn’t just win, he also makes the race. From start to finish he’s pulling at
the front. He always keeps on pounding, which gave us a nice duel and the
audience became the big winner. It was a fantastic cross on the cutting edge,
in the end the ball is rolling well for us now and that’s just great.
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“It was more difficult at the beginning of the season, due to circumstances and
bad luck. That first big victory took a long time to come. But now he is
finally in top condition, with good morale on top of that. Then he is capable
of a lot. The courses that are more difficult are also to the advantage of the
slightly older riders with a bigger engine.”
Vanthourenhout’s rise to the top of the World Cup standings
has not been without its challenges. The team manager credits the Belgian
rider’s development over the past two seasons, both physically and mentally.
“Michael didn’t win that much before. That also has to do
with a lack of belief in himself. That only comes from winning, then you get
that belief and confidence that you can do it. Michael is mentally very strong
in his head. You need that at this level,” he continues.
“You have to be able to handle it not only physically, but
also mentally. Michael has grown enormously in two years, in his own way. And
in his own head he is now that winner.”
Michael Vanthourenhout has been in excellent form so far this winter
With Vanthourenhout leading the standings and in the form of
his career, the World Cup remains the team’s central focus. But can a certain
duo put a stop to the team’s winning start to the season?
“There is now one big goal for Vanthourenhout and that is
the World Cup. We are now looking forward to Hulst, that will be the most
important day of the weekend for us and there he can dot the i's and cross the
t's. That it might be our last chance before Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van
Aert participate? We are really not thinking about that yet. We have already
achieved that five out of five ourselves, that is not nothing.”
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as 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. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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