“Winning is not easy. There are some really good young guys" - First World Cup victory since November 2021 'very important' for Lars van der Haar in Maasmechelen
Cyclocross
Lars van der Haar was in imperious form in Maasmechelen at the latest round of UCI World Cup action. The Dutchman took a very impressive solo win to secure his first World Cup victory in nearly two years.
“This is a very important victory for me. Winning is not easy. There are some really good young guys. Today I was able to benefit from my teammates,” van der Haar recapped in his post-race interview. “It was very tough, but fortunately it was only very tough from the sand strip to the finish. You couldn't make up much time in the rest of the lap. It was really focusing on the tough part and not making any mistakes for the rest. But I got a flat tire with two laps to go, so I thought it was over. But luckily it wasn't too far to the exchange point.”
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For the first half of the race, van der Haar was alongside Eli Iserbyt and Thibau Nys in fierce competition but as the Dutch national champion began to press hard, mistakes from Iserbyt and Nys saw van der Haar extend his advantage to an eventual race-winning position. After much criticism last year, the Maasmechelen course was also much improved.
“It remains tricky, but there are slightly fewer stones, it is slightly less dangerous. The round was better in that respect. It's just very difficult to catch up. You're driving at a bit of maximum speed on this lap, so it's difficult to make a difference. But that also has an advantage if you are in the lead," he concludes, casting an eye towards next week's European Championship. “I don't know if that round will suit me perfectly, but of course I'm aiming for a championship. You always want to be good there. I think it's working out pretty well.”
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
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
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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🇳🇱 Lars van der Haar s'est imposé sur #CXWorldCup de Maasmechelen devant Eli Iserbyt et Laurens Sweeck. Victime d'une chute dans le dernier tour, Thibau Nys a fini 7e. #cx #cyclocross #veldrijden
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