"We lack that top striker in some categories, in particular in female categories" - Belgium needs to recover from unsettling CX World Championships without a gold medal
Cyclocross
The Cyclocross World Championships came to a successful wrap with Mathieu van der Poel's record-equalling seventh world title. Behind, Wout Van Aert rode just as impressive of a race, however the 40-second jet lag from the start didn't allow him to ever come close to winning. How did the Belgian cyclocross stand in comparison with the rest of the world in other categories? Rather poorly is the conclusion of Belgian experts.
"In his case, I think it is better that he comes in at 40 seconds than at 3 seconds. That would have been more painful," assumes Paul Herygers in the post-championships analysis on Sporza. He is of the opinion that Van Aert's poor starting position destroyed what could've been an entertaining battle for cyclocross title: "Row 4 was too far, he couldn't get out of there. For the rest, he rode just as fast as Van der Poel."
On the other hand he liked the performance of Thibau Nys, who completed the podium: "If you've become European and Belgian champion, then this bronze World Championships medal is the icing on the cake. Nys graduated from the cyclocross university today." But is he going to challenge Van der Poel for rainbow stripes any time soon? Probably no.
"Another observation is that while we are going home with 4 World Championship medals, there is not a single gold medal among them," Ruben Van Gucht points out. And when he takes a look at Belgium's chances in years to come, there's not much to hope for either. "The chance that we will win a world title next year is also not that great. This will not be solved in 1 year."
Ultimately, it was only the U23 and elite men who were able to bring home silver and bronze medals in both categories, beaten to a pulp by their Dutch opponents (Tibor del Grosso in under-23 and Mathieu van der Poel in Elite). In women categories, only the retiring Sanne Cant was able to even enter the top-10 of the result sheet. And among juniors, there was no Belgian jersey anywhere in sight with Sanne Laurijssen crossing the line all the way back in 19th.
Van Gucht would love to see Belgium competitive again in youth categories too: "We lack that top striker in some categories. We do not have Del Grosso (in the U23s) or Agostinacchio (in the juniors) riding around among the Belgians. As Belgium we must try to find the weapons to fight with in those categories. That young guy in the juniors (Mats Vanden Eynde), who fought for a long time and came 5th, is the future for us," he notes.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses 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.
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