Mathieu van der Poel waited until halfway into the race to accelerate away from a five-rider lead group to claim his third consecutive win at the sixth round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Koksijde on Sunday. The win was his fifth career triumph at the Koksijde World Cup and extended his remarkable cyclocross winning streak to 15 races.
Just like Saturday’s win in Antwerp, no one could match the world champion’s pace as he powered away on the course known for its difficult and long sand sections.
“It's one of my favourite races, and especially with the changes they did, like it even more. So I really had fun today,” Van der Poel said after taking his fifth World Cup at Koksijde in his career, so far.
Last held in 2021, the World Cup series returned to Koksijde with a slightly different and harder course, returning the start/finish straight to its 1994 spot, decreasing the amount of recovery time.
A lead group consisting of Van der Poel, his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates Tibor del Grosso and Niels Vandeputte, Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens CX Team) and Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) pulled away after the first two laps, with Netherlands champion Del Grosso setting the pace the majority of the time. Van der Poel made a few moves which were closed down by Sweeck, whose superb sand skills allowed him to keep close tabs on the pre-race favourite.
But, it wasn’t enough to keep Van der Poel’s power and skills in check as he surged away on the fourth lap, growing his gap lap after lap as he raced towards the finish line.
“I think I just was looking a bit what the others were doing,” Van der Poel said of his attack, “and then I just went to the front and in a sense, it's always easier if you can do your own lines. And if there's mistakes behind, there's a gap coming in, and I decided to go for it.”
In a three-way battle for the two remaining podium places, Sweeck got the better of Vandeputte to take second place, crossing the line seven seconds behind Van der Poel, who slowed down to watch the battle over his shoulders.
After a mistake, Del Grosso was slightly gapped on the bell lap and finished fourth. European champion Aerts came in solo in fifth place.
Sweeck remained atop the series lead with 146 points, 18 points ahead of last year’s overall winner Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Undustriebouw). Van der Poel moved up to fourth place with 120 points, five points behind Vandeputte in third.
How it unfolded
On a grey, chilly day, 58 riders from eight nations lined up for the sixth World Cup of the season in Koksijde with its sandy dunes on the North Sea coast of Belgium.
Seven-time world champion Mathieu van der Poel started on the first row, after his victory on Saturday in Antwerp, and after a good start, he slotted in behind European champion Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens CX Team), who took the holeshot and Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon).
Tibor del Grosso, the reigning Netherlands champion, quickly came to the front to set a fast pace, briefly getting a gap before the first sand section, but was caught by Van der Poel on the sand section as splits started to occur in the field. Using his tremendous sand skills, Sweeck caught up to Del Grosso and Van der Poel by the second sand section.
By the end of the first lap, a five-rider lead group, which included Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates Del Grosso and Niels Vandeputte, Aerts and Sweeck had a nine-second lead to the closest chaser. It was soon clear that the winner would come from this lead group.
In the next few laps, Van der Poel made a few digs but was kept close by Sweeck on the sand sections while Del Grosso set a fast pace at the front. But on the fourth lap, Van der Poel made his decisive acceleration, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. By the start of the fifth lap, he had a 21-second lead on Del Grosso, Sweeck, and Vandeputte, while Aerts had faded back and would continue on solo to the end.
Van der Poel continued on solo, increasing his lead every lap, until the finish, where he slowed down to watch the battle for second place.
With two laps to go, Sweeck, Vandeputte and Del Grosso, who kept stretching his back, were locked in a battle for the podium spots. On the seventh and final lap, once again Sweeck took advantage of his sand mastery to slightly distance Vandeputte and take second place while Del Grosso made a mistake on an uphill sand section, which pushed him to fourth place.
Results
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