Michael Vanthourenhout resigned to not follow Van der Poel attacks after 2nd in Gavere: "I didn't even try"
Cyclocross
After a tight opening couple of laps at World Cup Gavere this Boxing Day, once Mathieu van der Poel attacked, there was no bringing back the world champion. As it turns out though, 2nd placed Michael Vanthourenhout immediately gave up hope of victory once Van der Poel started to accelerate.
"I didn't even try (to follow Van der Poel ed.)," Vanthourenhout admitted afterwards in his post-race interview. "That would be dangerous, because I could blow myself up. I really focused on second place, because I didn't manage to compete for the podium in recent years. The fact that I've managed it now is great."
In the fight for 2nd, Vanthourenhout had to hold of a surging Thibau Nys on the final lap. Despite the European champion's best efforts though, Vanthourenhout managed to hold firm and finish best of the rest. “The whole race I said to myself: wait for the last lap to attack the climb, but on the last lap I couldn't do that anymore," the Belgian concludes. "It was a struggle all the way to the top and hoping that Nys wouldn't catch up.”
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| 01 | van der Poel Mathieu | - | 01:05:29 |
| 02 | Vanthourenhout Michael | - | + 26 |
| 03 | Nys Thibau | - | + 41 |
| 04 | van der Haar Lars | - | + 55 |
| 05 | Verstrynge Emiel | - | + 01:32 |
| 06 | Vandeputte Niels | - | + 01:48 |
| 07 | Del Grosso Tibor | - | + 01:50 |
| 08 | Mason Cameron | - | + 01:52 |
| 09 | Wyseure Joran | - | + 02:06 |
| 10 | Aerts Toon | - | + 02:24 |
| 11 | Van Kessel Corne | - | + 02:41 |
| 12 | Ronhaar Pim | - | + 02:46 |
| 13 | Boros Michael | - | + 02:50 |
| 14 | Vandebosch Toon | - | + 03:06 |
| 15 | Mein Thomas | - | + 03:18 |
| 16 | Menut David | - | + 03:23 |
| 17 | Adams Jens | - | + 03:28 |
| 18 | Michels Jente | - | + 03:55 |
| 19 | Orts Lloret Felipe | - | + 04:16 |
| 20 | Hendrikx Mees | - | + 04:31 |
| 21 | Thomas Théo | - | + 04:42 |
| 22 | Ackert Ian | - | + 05:05 |
| 23 | Bertolini Gioele | - | + 05:20 |
| 24 | Reculeau Nicolas | - | + 05:34 |
| 25 | Bommenel Nathan | - | + 05:43 |
| 26 | Kuhn Kevin | - | + 05:50 |
| 27 | Holmgren Gunnar | - | + 05:53 |
| 28 | Remijn Senna | - | + 05:57 |
| 29 | Sommer Lars | - | + 05:59 |
| 30 | Kamp Ryan | - | + 06:02 |
| 31 | van den Eijnden Guus | - | + 06:16 |
| 32 | Funston Scott | - | + 06:33 |
| 33 | Rodriguez Novoa Miguel | - | + 06:52 |
| 34 | Meisen Marcel | - | + 06:59 |
| 35 | Ananie Ugo | - | + 07:06 |
Mathieu van der Poel does it again 👏
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 26, 2024
Men Elite 🥇 and two from two @UCIcyclocrossWC
What he said 👉 "It was getting harder and harder every lap and I was making a lot of mistakes so I was getting annoyed at myself and I was happy to cross the finish line!" #CXWorldCup #FLCS pic.twitter.com/WgptTXLSNH
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
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- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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