"There is only one word for Mathieu: phenomenal" - Former CX world champion showers praise onto Mathieu van der Poel
Cyclocross
Despite the late addition of Wout van Aert to the mix, there was no drama at the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships as Mathieu van der Poel stormed to a record equalling 7th Rainbow Jersey win on Sunday afternoon in Lievin. Understandably, former world champion Bart Wellens has been left incredibly impressed by the Dutchman's performance.
"In terms of excitement, this was not the World Championship we had hoped for," Wellens readily admits in his column for Het Nieuwsblad. "But you could already tell from the previous categories: the decision would fall quickly. Mathieu was simply the best, the deserved world champion. There is only one word for what Mathieu performs: phenomenal."
Despite Van der Poel making things look easy, and now having won 24 of his last 25 cyclocross races in a run stretching back to the 2022/23 season, Wellens insists it shouldn't be taken for granted just how good the Dutch, Alpecin-Deceuninck superstar really is. "It all seems obvious but it is not. And that absolute record, an eighth world title, is undoubtedly the motivation for him to stay in the cross for a while longer," Wellens concludes. "And soon he will just go to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to win. At the time, we were already full of admiration for Sven Nys, who once focused on Paris-Roubaix and finished 46th or so. Mathieu can win everything."
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| 01 | van der Poel Mathieu | - | 01:02:44 |
| 02 | van Aert Wout | - | + 45 |
| 03 | Nys Thibau | - | + 01:06 |
| 04 | Nieuwenhuis Joris | - | + 01:15 |
| 05 | Verstrynge Emiel | - | + 01:53 |
| 06 | Aerts Toon | - | + 01:56 |
| 07 | Vanthourenhout Michael | - | + 02:00 |
| 08 | Wyseure Joran | - | + 02:03 |
| 09 | van der Haar Lars | - | + 02:09 |
| 10 | Sweeck Laurens | - | + 02:28 |
| 11 | Kamp Ryan | - | + 02:44 |
| 12 | Orts Lloret Felipe | - | + 02:45 |
| 13 | Iserbyt Eli | - | + 03:32 |
| 14 | Vandeputte Niels | - | + 03:40 |
| 15 | Doubey Fabien | - | + 03:47 |
| 16 | Kuhn Kevin | - | + 04:10 |
| 17 | Venturini Clément | - | + 04:22 |
| 18 | Mein Thomas | - | + 04:49 |
| 19 | Funston Scott | - | + 05:00 |
| 20 | Hendrikx Mees | - | + 05:15 |
| 21 | Ronhaar Pim | - | + 05:31 |
| 22 | Bertolini Gioele | - | + 05:35 |
| 23 | Menut David | - | + 05:54 |
| 24 | Boros Michael | - | + 06:08 |
At a loss for words! 😮💨
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 3, 2025
Fierce racing, history-making feats and insane atmosphere: the 2025 UCI #CycloCross World Championships were something else. 🔥
Merci, Liévin! 🙏#Lievin2025 pic.twitter.com/RVkGX415dG
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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