QUOTES: Wout van Aert & Mathieu van der Poel's pre-race thoughts ahead of 2025 Cyclocross World Championships
Cyclocross
The day has finally arrived. This afternoon in Lievin, France, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are set to go head to head for the Rainbow Jersey at the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships. See the pre-race thoughts of both riders down below!
"I'm really looking forward to it. It's a really tricky course and it will change a lot until the start and maybe even during the race. It will be a spectacle to look forward to," predicts Van Aert in comments to Sporza ahead of the battle. "I hope there will be space (to move up from 4th row). I think there's a big chance that will happen, because it's an uphill start. Hopefully I can gain some places right away and be at the front as soon as possible. That's the message."
"I never really make a plan in advance. Because if it goes wrong at the start, you can no longer stick to that plan. I'm someone who always looks at what's happening, how I feel and what the situation is," says Van der Poel meanwhile. "I think it's a bit more fun with Wout. He's always been a tough competitor. If Wout doesn't think he can win today, he wouldn't have been here. I'll definitely take him into account. If Wout beats me today, then hopefully it's deserved and not due to material problems. Then I can live with it."
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Tougher than the terrain. 💥
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 2, 2025
Shout out to all the riders for giving it their all—through every fall, every slip, every gasp for air. 💪🏼#BigMat | #Lievin2025 pic.twitter.com/fMzqYIe3m4
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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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- 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
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