Broken rib? Who cares? Not Mathieu van der Poel, as he produced one of those special MvdP days to decimate the field and win the World Cup Maasmechelen. Behind the world champion, Wout van Aert had to settle for second and Joris Nieuwenhuis came third.
It was a crazy start to the race, and Wout van Aert crashed after making up ground early, and he was immediately distanced by Van der Poel and the other leaders, including Michael Vanthourenhout. But, before long Van Aert had stormed through the filed and the 18,000 fans went wild as he re-joined his arch rival at the front.
Would we get another epic duel between the two greats? The answer, was seemingly no, as Van Aert fell again on the muddy course whilst descending and Van der Poel, wearing the rainbow jersey, smelt blood. The Dutchman turned the after burners on, and within minutes of Van Aert's fall he had built a 40 second lead over the Belgian.
Incredibly, after 4 laps Van der Poel had already begun to lap some of the other riders, and his fourth lap was more than ten seconds faster than Van Aert's. A rider who was having a much less impressive day was Pim Ronhaar, who retired during the fifth lap.
Van der Poel put in incredible lap after incredible lap, and the others could simply watch on as he proved once more just how much better he is than everyone else.
In the end, Van der Poel beat Van Aert by 1 minute and 14 seconds! Judging this performance, it's hard to see anyone stopping Van der Poel from picking up his record equalling seventh cyclocross world title next weekend.
Only one race remains in this World Cup season, which has passed by incredibly quickly. The final showdown takes place tomorrow at the World Cup Hoogerheide.
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Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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