Results World Cup Namur | Mathieu van der Poel survives crash drama and huge effort from Nys and co, to win on return to cyclocross

Mathieu van der Poel wins at World Cup Namur. It was his season debut and he prevailed partly due to a technical mistake by Thibau Nys, who made things difficult but faltered at the end. The Belgian couldn’t do it and the world champion returned with a victory. Michael Vanthourenhout completed the podium.

Van der Poel started from the third row due to his seventh place in the UCI cyclocross ranking. He set off from position 17 since the top 16 spots are always reserved for the top 16 in the World Cup. You could feel in the air the return of the greatest cx competitor in history.

Brutal start on the brutally tough mud wall. A pinch point that makes it very difficult to overtake in the first corners. Felipe Orts tangled with Van der Poel in a corner. Constant bottlenecks. Toon Vandenbosch and Michael Vanthourenhout dominated the opening laps.

Before the end of the first lap, with a couple of accelerations, Van der Poel moved into fourth and quickly third. Vanthourenhout tried to break away at the front. Vanthourenhout crossed the line with Van der Poel right on his wheel. An impressive comeback from the world champion, who made things clear from the start despite debuting on one of the most demanding courses on the Cyclocross World Cup calendar.

The group came back together on the second lap with Thibau Nys also charging through and moving into third. On the circuit’s second rise, Nys took the lead and tried to open a small gap. Van der Poel lost a few positions at that point. A very long race, and the World Cup leader was already there. At the second pass over the line, a compact group with Vanthourenhout back in front ahead of Nys, Van der Poel, Vandebosch, Nieuwenhuis, and Toon Aerts.

A lull in the lead group at the start of the third lap allowed Lars van der Haar to take advantage, move up, and take the lead for a few laps. The third time across the line left a front quartet with a few seconds’ advantage: Van der Haar, Van der Poel, Nys, and Vanthourenhout.

On the fourth lap Van der Poel went down. A hard hit into the mud after planting his front wheel. He got up quickly after losing a few seconds and promptly moved back into fourth.

The world champion returned to the front of the race without issue. Nys tried an attack once MVDP had rejoined the lead group. The fourth pass over the line made it clear the leading four would fight for the win. Nothing had happened to Van der Poel after the crash, nor to his Canyon bike, since he didn’t switch in the next pit passage.

Pim Ronhaar and Emiel Verstrynge were the two trying to bridge to the leaders, but they only inched closer when the front eased off in some sections; on the ramps they lost time again.

Van der Haar suffered under Nys’s pace at the front and Van der Poel nearly went down again. It showed that he hadn’t worked much on cyclocross technique during the autumn, and you could spot some gaps despite his excellence. Power-wise, though, he was absolutely on it as always.

After the fifth time across the line, Van der Haar managed to return, but he looked the least comfortable of the leading four. The Dutchman, who will retire at the end of the season, changed bikes again.

Nys led the front group on the second rise of the sixth lap. Van der Haar definitely didn’t have the same pace as his rivals and was dropped again. At the start of the seventh lap, Van der Poel led the race for the first time because Nys stopped to change bikes. The group eased up, Van der Haar came back from behind with an attack. MVDP followed his wheel without problems.

The first attack from Van der Poel came in the second half of the seventh lap. Nys managed to stick with him. It cost Vanthourenhout a bit more, and he lost a few meters. With two laps to go, Nys and Van der Poel led with 6 seconds over Vanthourenhout. The Alpecin rider changed bikes.

On the opening ramp of the eighth lap, Nys attacked violently with Van der Poel holding his wheel well. They hit the line before the final lap almost track-standing, and Vanthourenhout got back to them. Everything would be decided on the last lap.

Thibau Nys went down in a technical section of the last lap, losing a few meters to the front. He dropped to fourth behind Van der Haar, though he got up immediately.

Van der Poel pressed on, capitalizing on Nys’s error, and rode away at the front in pursuit of the win. He pushed hard on the final rise. Nys fought back to second place, but it was no longer possible to catch the world champion and he had to settle for second. Vanthourenhout finished third and Van der Haar fourth.