Van der Poel speeds his way to perfect cyclo-cross record in sandy Zonhoven, Nieuwenhuis second

Mathieu van der Poel turned yet another World Cup race into a one-man show. During Sunday's World Cup in Zonhoven, the 28-year-old Dutchman of Alpecin-Deceuninck waited exactly 24 minutes to launch his first and only attack, which was immediately enough to secure the victory. Joris Nieuwenhuis and Laurens Sweeck completed the podium.

With no Wout van Aert or Tom Pidcock in Zonhoven, Van der Poel once again played the role of top favorite by himself. Not that the other two of the 'Big Three' have had much to say this season, as it was all about Van der Poel. The five-time world champion had a maximum score before the start and went into the mythical track looking for a perfect score sheet.

In the women's race, a drama unfolded in Zonhoven. Lucinda Brand, who was leading the race, had a heavy fall and had to give up. She was in tears and had a lot of blood on her nose. The men were not spared misfortune either. Cameron Mason fell on his first dive into the field (and not in the sand) and had to get back into the race from the back of the pack. The 23-year-old British champion saw that his bike had given out and gave up with a scraped, but not too serious injury.

Van der Poel needs only one attack to drop everyone

Sand specialist Laurens Sweeck, on the other hand, was doing well. The Belgian of Crelan-Corendon felt like a fish in water on this terrain and was in the leading group with Van der Poel, Ronhaar, Toon Vandenbosch and Joris Nieuwenhuis after the first round. Eli Iserbyt, back after his withdrawal in Hulst, couldn't stay behind - being the leader in the World Cup rankings, after all - and Thibau Nys and Joran Wyseure, who battled for the podium in Gullegem on Saturday, showed their good form too. European champion Michael Vanthourenhout decided to have a non-race after his victory on Saturday in West Flanders and had a calm training ride with an eye on next Sunday's Belgian Championships in Meulebeke. Ronhaar was not in for a Sunday ride and put the pressure on with the five-time world champion in the field. Due to the cold wind, the former winner of the Tour of Flanders waited a bit, to strike at the right time, but at the beginning of the third round he pulled away from everyone with just a few strokes of his pedals. Within minutes, the Dutchman had established a lead of more than ten seconds.

Nieuwenhuis did not give up and went after his compatriot solo, but realized that it was a futile task and let Sweeck, Ronhaar and Vandenbosch catch up again. Nys and Wyseure had to pay for their fast start and their heavy cyclo-cross race on Saturday and fell back in the background. Iserbyt also showed that he is not quite back to his old self, while Lars van der Haar gradually got his diesel going and made reverse movements.

Behind the lone Van der Poel, we saw became a duel between the duos of Crelan Corendon and Baloise Trek Lions, until Vandenbosch had to let teammate Sweeck go after a rare fall in 'De Kuil'. The former Belgian champion was caught in between his Dutch rivals, and Nieuwenhuis prevented Sweeck from using his sand skills by riding ahead of him. The Dutchman outsmarted the Belgian for second place, Ronhaar and Vandenbosch completed the top five.

Results men's category World Cup Zonhoven 2024

Results powered by FirstCycling.com