Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) won an historic eighth UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships title with another display of brilliance.
The 31-year-old mastered the difficult Hulst course and used the steep banks to power clear of his rivals, with Tibor Del Grosso taking silver following a race-long battle with Thibau Nys in bronze.
The dominant display by Van der Poel marks a perfect season, with the Dutchman unbeaten in over two years in the cyclo-cross field.
Meanwhile, Del Grosso took silver in his first elite championship, after winning the under-23 title on two occasions.
Nys carried the Belgium team’s hopes but lacked the power to ride a decisive steep bank, giving Van der Poel the advantage he needed to ride away.
Del Grosso played a loyal teammate and stayed behind Nys, who was unable to close down the impressive leader.
The rivals were locked in a battle for the silver and bronze medals, but had to keep the pace high to hold of a large chasing group.
The pace looked to be telling for 22-year-old Del Grosso who was gapped by Nys with two laps to go. However, once again Nys made a mistake on the steep climb and was unable to ride, allowing Del Grosso back to his wheel again.
With Nys and Del Grosso locked in a tactical battle a large chasing group pulled them back to 14 seconds on the final lap.
Heavy rain changed conditions late on and Del Grosso was able to ride a decisive climb to gap Nys and then grew out his margin for silver.
Meanwhile, Van der Poel celebrated an historic eighth world title finishing 35 seconds ahead of Del Grosso, with Nys a further 11 seconds back.
It was a record fifth gold medal of the championships for the home nation, the Netherlands, following wins for the mixed relay, elite women, under-23 women and junior men.
“It’s pretty special,” said Van der Poel. “When I started cycling the dream was to become World Champion one day in the elite category.
“To now having the most titles of all time, it’s incredible. Maybe last weekend I felt a bit stronger (winning at Hoogerheide and Maasmechelen), this course was completely different.
“I really tried to manage my bike and my tyres as good as possible to be sure that a mechanical didn’t ruin the party. I did what I had to do and I’m really happy that it all worked out.”
Van der Poel let out a roar as he stood on the pedals to celebrate his win. The Dutchman said that his celebration was a copy of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siuu’ move.
“In Spain we do a lot of sprints for the town signs, and a lot of different celebrations," he said.
“The Siuu from [Cristiano] Ronaldo is one of the most used, so I thought it was the right moment to pull one.”
How it unfolded
The fortress city of Hulst, on the Dutch-Belgium border, provided a spectacular backdrop with the 3.3-kilometre course containing 150 metres of elevation gain, including steep climbs and descents to test riders’ technical abilities.
The previous day’s action saw how deceptively treacherous the course was with a heavy crashes disrupting the hopes of several elite women contenders.
A key name was missing from this year’s elite men’s field as Belgian star Wout van Aert opted not to ride after fracturing his ankle during the Zilvermeercross in Mol on January 1. That meant that all eyes of the 35,000 spectators were on defending champion Van der Poel, as the Dutchman came into the event with an unbeaten record stretching back over two years.
The Dutch idol also had good memories of the Hulst course, with six wins at the venue in previous years. Van der Poel made no secret in his pre-race interviews that his tactic was to lead from the front and solo to victory.
Nys carried the hopes of Belgium on his shoulders and aimed to follow the Dutch rival, without wasting his medal opportunity.
However, it was youngster Del Grosso who had the quickest start along the asphalt, with countryman Van der Poel and also Nys in close attendance. Spaniard Felipe Orts had the slowest start and was shuffled back down the pack to 18th and had to battle his way back through the pack.
Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) was riding his last Cyclo-cross World Championships before retiring and was sitting in fourth, before a slight error in the switch-back section allowed the top three to go clear.
Van der Poel and Del Grosso showed their power and speed to ride a steep bank and Nys struggled – resulting in losing a few seconds.
Heading into the powerful flat section Van der Poel continued to drive the pace before running the planks as Del Grosso and Nys gained ground by bunny hopping them. After being put onto the back-foot on the opening lap Nys regained ground to make a group of three at the front.
Fellow Dutchman Pim Ronhaar was one of those to suffer misfortune on the opening lap and slid out crashing.
Following his plan, Nys attempted to follow a resurgent Van der Poel during the second lap. However, the defending World Champion showed his running speed on the steep ascent up to top of the course to pull out a gap of four seconds.
Van der Poel was again able to power up the steep climb, while Nys faltered and was passed by Dutchman Del Grosso.
With two laps gone it was man-on-man as Del Grosso sat behind Belgian Nys, just 10 seconds behind lone leader Van der Poel and the chasing group 34 seconds back.
The course in Hulst allowed Van der Poel to gage his effort and see the gap between himself and the chasing pair.
Nys put pressure on opponent Del Grosso, but several small mistakes allowed the Dutchman to draw back to his wheel and the gap to Van der Poel grew out.
After his nightmare first lap Orts managed to work his way through the field back into a large group in fourth. At the front Van der Poel had grown out a 30-second advantage and was enjoying himself over the small mounds.
With the leader out of sight Del Grosso contributed to the pace setting with Nys, as the pair looked to secure the silver and bronze medals.
Italian national champion Filippo Fontana was providing a standout performance by leading the chasing group, who reduced the deficit to 20 seconds behind Nys and Del Grosso at the midway point.
Van Der Poel had edged out his advantage to 38 seconds and had chance to change his bike, as he left nothing to chance.
After struggling earlier in the race to ride the steep ascent Nys was improving each lap and not losing as much time. The Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions rider was growing in confidence and putting Del Grosso under pressure in the battle for silver.
That pressure meant the co-operation between Nys and Del Grosso faltered as they reached the asphalt finish section, as the gap to the chasers behind remained 23 seconds with three laps remaining.
The chasing group were making mistakes of their own as Orts and Toon Aerts (Belgium) tangled on the steep uphill section.
Del Grosso, age 22, started to show signs of tiring amid the pressure from Nys and with just over two laps remaining started to lose ground.
Heading into the penultimate lap, Nys had a gap clear over Del Grosso, while Orts had pulled clear of the chasing group - 29 seconds behind the bronze medallist. Heavy rain fell during the penultimate lap resulting in the course becoming more slippery ahead of the last lap battle.
Meanwhile, Van der Haar’s last Cyclo-cross World Championships ended in pain as the Dutchman looked in discomfort.
Taking the last lap bell, Van der Poel had an advantage of over a minute over Del Grosso and Nys and the chasing group was a further 18 seconds back. The wet course was also causing Van der Poel issues as he was forced to run a previous rideable climb. Del Grosso had no trouble on the same section and pulled out an important margin over under-pressure Nys.
Van der Poel enjoyed a special eighth elite men’s World Championship, while fellow Dutchman Del Grosso celebrated his first medal in the category by taking silver. Meanwhile, Nys repeated his bronze medal from 12 months earlier.
Winning the battle from the large chasing group for fourth was Joris Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands) edging Fontana, the pair finishing just nine seconds behind Nys.
Results
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