"My knee took a hard hit, and I still feel it in everything I do": Joris Nieuwenhuis pauses cyclocross campaign due to injury

Joris Nieuwenhuis will temporarily step away from cyclocross racing after continuing knee problems following a crash in Antwerp on 20 December. The 29-year-old Dutch rider of Ridley Racing Team will undergo further medical examinations before deciding on his return to competition.

“I haven’t been feeling completely fit over the past few days,” Nieuwenhuis wrote on his Instagram account. “It doesn’t happen very often that I don’t finish a race, and I hoped to keep it that way. But since my crash in Antwerp [on December 20], I haven’t felt the same on the bike. My knee took a hard hit, and I still feel it in everything I do.”

Nieuwenhuis crashed heavily during the UCI World Cup Antwerpen, but refused to abandon and finished in 16th place, far from the winner Mathieu van der Poel. He went on to place sixth at the X²O Badkamers Trofee Hofstade Plage cross on December 22, but was forced to abandon races in Zolder the following day and Gavere on Friday.

After the race in Gavere, Nieuwenhuis and his team opted for caution. “After yesterday’s race, we decided to have everything thoroughly checked before I start racing again,” he explained. “The season is not ‘on hold’. It’s mainly a matter of waiting to see how my body responds in the coming days. Based on that, we’ll decide which races I will ride.”

Despite the setback, Nieuwenhuis' 2025/2026 season has been highly successful so far. He has won five races (Superprestige Noordzeecross Middelkerke, Internationale Sluitingsprijs - Oostmalle, Internationale Cyclocross Heerderstrand, X2O Badkamers Trofee Rapencross and Telenet Superprestige Merksplas), which are half of the 10 professional victories he holds.

He currently leads the overall standings of the X2O Badkamers Trofee, 43 seconds ahead of Thibau Nys, although he will lose that lead in a couple of days. The next X2O round, the Azencross in Loenhout, is scheduled for Monday, followed by the GP Sven Nys on New Year’s Day.