Mathieu van der Poel wins record-breaking eighth elite CX world title
Mathieu van der Poel delivered on his overwhelming favourite status in the elite men's race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships on Sunday, winning his eighth elite CX world title after going solo in the second of eight laps at Hulst, Netherlands. He breaks the record number of world titles previously shared with Eric de Vlaeminck, and joins Marianne Vos at the top.
After offering a massive pull in the opening lap, something that has become customary this season, Tibor Del Grosso let Van der Poel go and battled with fellow outside favourite Thibau Nys – the gap to the large chase group (race for fourth) over half a minute by the end of lap two. As Van der Poel's advantage approached a minute and Del Grosso's problematic back became a sticking point in the later laps, Nys looked more and more sure of the silver medal, but a couple of mistakes from the Belgian in the worsening conditions saw a rallying Del Grosso surge into the gap in the closing stages.
Van der Poel's victory crowned a perfect day for the Netherlands, whose junior Delano Heeren and under-23 Leonie Bentveld took the home nation's third and fourth golds of the weekend.
This and the entire weekend of World Championship action will be covered in more detail here at Escape Collective in our last CX gallery of the season after the close of competition on Sunday.
Elite Men top 5
- Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) 1:00:25
- Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands) +0:35
- Thibau Nys (Belgium) +0:46
- Joris Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands) +0:55
- Filippo Fontana (Italy) “
Junior Men top 5
- Delano Heeren (Netherlands) 40:15
- Filippo Grigolini (Italy) +0:09
- Giel Lejeune (Belgium) +0:10
- Benjamin Noval Suarez (Spain) +0:15
- Soen Le Pann (France) +0:43
Under-23 Women top 5
- Leonie Bentveld (Netherlands) 43:08
- Viktória Chladonová (Slovakia) +0:11
- Célia Gery (France) +0:57
- Fleur Moors (Belgium) +1:14
- Amandine Muller (France) +1:20
