UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships: fifth title for Van der Poel after thrilling duel

A historic fifth UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship title

Mathieu Van der Poel claimed a historic fifth UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship title, on home ground in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, after a thrilling battle with his main competitor Wout van Aert. Earlier in the day, Léo Bisiaux and Shirin van Anrooij had conquered the other two rainbow jerseys up for grabs, in the Men Junior and Women Under 23 categories.

Well-deserved victory for Bisiaux

French Léo Bisiaux, winner of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Men Junior overall title and of the European Championships earlier in the season, added the gold medal in Hoogerheide to his already numerous victories. With a furious start, Bisiaux continued to accelerate and flew through lap 2 and lap 3 (7’07’’).

“It has been a very long time since a French rider won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup or the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships”, Bisiaux said as he succeeds Arnaud Jouffroy (winner of the 2007-2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup) and Clément Venturini (UCI Cyclo-cross World Champion in 2011). “It took a lot of work with the Federation and today was a good race after a good preparation with the French team.”

Riding on home soil, Dutch Senna Remijn was the strongest rider behind Bisiaux, finishing on second place (+11”). Belgium’s Yordi Corsus rounded out the podium (+17’’) after beating his compatriot Wies Nuyens in the sprint for third place.

Van Anrooij shines on home ground

On her 21st birthday, Shirin van Anrooij was decorated with the rainbow stripes as she won the Under 23 category in Hoogerheide, just 30km away from her birthplace. Van Anrooij attacked on lap 2 and gradually left Great Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt behind.

“It was perfect”, Van Anrooij said with a big smile. “You can’t really describe it. There was so much pressure, also from myself, to win here. I had a feeling I could only lose this race and then it all went really well. I’m just really happy I could deal with the pressure today.”

Zoe Bäckstedt took silver (+33’’), a year after she won the Women Junior title, and Czech Republic’s Kristyna Zemanova claimed the bronze medal (+1’32’’).

Thrilling duel between Van der Poel and Van Aert

For the final race of the day, all eyes turned to the two cyclo-cross superstars Dutch Mathieu Van der Poel and Belgian Wout van Aert, for another legendary battle.

Already in the first lap, Van der Poel attacked and only Van Aert was able to follow. Behind them, a Belgian duo emerged with Michael Vanthourenhout and Gerben Kuypers. Van der Poel and Van Aert continued their own race, with multiple attacks, while Vanthourenhout and Kuypers faded, inviting Belgian Eli Iserbyt and Dutch Lars van der Haar to the fight for the final place on the podium.

The battle for gold came down to a thrilling sprint. Van der Poel managed to surprise Van Aert with his attack and crossed the finish line first. With five titles, he joins Albert Zwiefel, André Dufraisse and Renato Longo in the history books. Only Eric De Vlaeminck has more victories in the Men Elite category.

“It’s incredible, this is one of my top three victories of all time and for sure I’m going to remember this one for a long time”, said Van der Poel as he added one more triumph to his long list. “The battle with Wout has been going on for ten years already. I think we both bring each other to another level and it also works for the sport, I have never seen anything like this in cyclo-cross. After our careers, we’ll be very proud about these battles.”

Van Aert finished second and Iserbyt (+12”) joined his Belgian compatriot on the podium for third place.