"Van der Poel’s return gave us confidence": Dutch national coach sees more enthusiastic group after Namur
CyclocrossTuesday, 16 December 2025 at 06:00
Mathieu van der Poel’s return to cyclo-cross concluded on Sunday with victory in the UCI World Cup round in Namur. The seven-time world champion of the discipline beat Thibau Nys to open his campaign in perfect fashion, despite a mid-race crash. For the Netherlands, it is an ideal sign of what’s to come.
Gerben de Knegt, the Dutch national cyclocross coach, spoke about Van der Poel’s first race of the 2025/26 campaign in comments to In de Leiderstrui. He made it clear that his return is a huge morale boost, not only for the push towards an eighth world title to break the record, but also for plans leading up to Hulst.
"Van der Poel’s return in Namur definitely gave us confidence for the upcoming races. The Christmas period is a kind of test for cyclocross riders. If you come through it well, you can move forward with confidence for the rest of the season and the Worlds," De Knegt began.
Alongside Mathieu van der Poel’s season debut, Tibor del Grosso (14th) and Puck Pieterse (5th) also returned to the mud, two other Dutch stars. "You can tell they still need to settle back into cyclocross, but I’m confident the next races will get them going," added the coach, already looking ahead to the Antwerp World Cup.
The race in Antwerp will be held this Saturday, featuring the first clash Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert of this season. "Many riders are really looking forward to this race. And for the spectators, it’s fantastic to have Van der Poel and Van Aert on the start line," De Knegt continued.
"It’s hard to predict which of the two will come out on top," he concluded, before confirming the Netherlands selection for the upcoming World Cup round.
Netherlands men for the World Cup Antwerpen:
- Joris Nieuwenhuis
- Mathieu van der Poel
- Lars van der Haar
- Pim Ronhaar
- Tibor Del Grosso
- Ryan Kamp
- Mees Hendrikx
- Danny van Lierop
- Remon Del Noije
- Jelte Jochems
- Max Rijver
Netherlands women for the World Cup Antwerp:
- Lucinda Brand
- Inge van der Heijden
- Manon Bakker
- Puck Pieterse
- Aniek van Alphen
- Ceylin Alvarado
- Leonie Bentveld
- Denise Betsema
- Annemarie Worst
- Larissa Hartog
- Lauren Molengraaf
- Shirin van Anrooij
- Bloeme Kalis
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