Mathieu van der Poel's amazing performance in his return to the Maasmechelen World Cup

Mathieu van der Poel returned and did so with an undeniable victory on the challenging Maasmechelen circuit. The world champion, who will defend his rainbow jersey in France in a week, only needed two laps to distance himself from the rest of the participants and secure a race that was decided long before its halfway point. Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) showed good form in a race marked by mud. However, several incidents at the beginning prevented him from challenging his main rival.

Van der Poel almost perfect on the mud of Maasmechelen

It had been almost a month since Mathieu van der Poel last competed, back in the World Cup in Besançon at the end of December, until he returned this Saturday in the penultimate round of the competition in Maasmechelen (Belgium). Physical issues after a fall in Loenhout, combined with the caution of him and his team in a year focused on road racing, prevented us from enjoying the best specialist of the current era in all the races announced at the beginning of this winter.

His return did not disappoint. Van der Poel once again proved with actions that he competes a step above the rest, even against a Wout van Aert who tried everything in the first two laps of the race. Perhaps due to that effort, pushing his physical and technical abilities to the limit at this moment, in a season where he hasn't raced much, the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike made several mistakes that dashed hopes of a closer duel.

A stumble and a fall

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The race did not start well for Van Aert. A stumble with a barrier during the first lap, trying to move up positions, forced him to dismount right from the start. The incident, combined with the tight competition among the top twenty, sent the Belgian to the back while Van der Poel comfortably rode behind Joris Niewenhuis (Ridley Racing Team) at the front. However, despite the difficulty, WvA caught up with the Dutch duo at the start of the second lap. The two favorites seemed ready to offer a spectacular race.

The stumble with the barrier.
The fall in the mud.

Van Aert's two mistakes in Maasmechelen.#CXWorldCup #FLCS pic.twitter.com/qTw6Wabb3F

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) January 25, 2025

Furthermore, boldly, Van Aert took the lead to challenge Van der Poel on a very muddy circuit in various sections, but one that was almost 100% rideable. That determination caused the Visma rider to fall in one of the most technical parts of the course, the areas where Van Aert struggled the most, probably because he was constantly pushing his limits. The rainbow jersey read the incident perfectly and took advantage to extend his lead, ultimately diminishing the chances of the rest. Niewenhuis, who had one of his best races of the season, also had a small fall trying to keep up with that acceleration, and Van Aert, now in second, crossed the finish line 20" behind the leader.

The gap between Van der Poel and the rest only grew from that moment until the end. Van Aert, without further incidents in the second half of the race, finished second over 1 minute behind the winner, thus closing his brief cyclocross campaign; Nieuwenhuis finished third almost 2 minutes behind. As for the overall World Cup standings, Vanhourenhout (6th) simply kept an eye on his main rival, Toon Aerts (5th), to almost seal a general classification that will be decided this Sunday.

Maasmechelen 2025 World Cup Classification

1st Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 57'51"
2nd Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) at 1'14"
3rd Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing Team) 1'53"
4th Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon) at 2'05"
5th Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens) at 2'16"
6th Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel) at 2'54"
7th Lars van der Haar (Baloise Glow Lions) at 3'12"
8th Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) at 3'24"
9th Kévin Kuhn (Charles Liégeois Roastery) at 3'36"
10th Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) at 3'37"

Blanka Vas wins an entertaining women's race and Lucinda Brand secures the World Cup overall

The exciting women's race was won by Hungarian Blanka Kata Vas (SD Worx-Protime) after a close finish against British rider Zoe Backstedt (Canyon/SRAM). The 23-year-old rider achieved her first victory of the season after a very consistent year filled with good results but lacking wins until this Saturday.

The other big winner of the day in Massmechelen was Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions), who only needed to finish ahead of Fem van Empel (Visma | Lease a Bike) to confirm her final victory in the World Cup overall. The third place of the Dutch rider, combined with the bad day of her only rival (6th), sealed Brand's victory with still one more race to go this Sunday in Hoogerheide.

Maasmechelen 2025 World Cup Classification

1st Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) 48'58"
2nd Zoe Backstedt (Canyon/SRAM) at 01"
3rd Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) at 12"
4th Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) at 28"
5th Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) at 1'17"
6th Fem van Empel (Visma | Lease a Bike) at 1'23"
7th Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) at 1'38"
8th Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) at 1'45"
9th Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) at 2'03"
10th Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) at 2'04"48'58"