Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) made an elegant return to the cyclo-cross circuit. In his first race of the season, the World Cup event in Namur, his duel with Thibau Nys (Baloise-Glowi Lions) provided plenty of excitement, but the Dutchman ultimately proved his superiority on the final lap.
Nys's downfall came with a crash on the final lap, and Van der Poel's sixth victory in Namur became a reality. Nys finished 9 seconds behind, and Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) was 11 seconds back.
"It's always tough on this course. But in the end, I'm happy with the win," Van der Poel said immediately after the race.
Van der Poel was patient for most of the race, not launching his first attack until the seventh of nine laps. At times he seemed to struggle and crashed over the handlebars in the middle section of the course. Van der Poel battled with three rivals throughout the race, making a tactical decision to wait for the right moment to break away, putting all his effort into the final lap after Nys's crash.
"I made an early decision to wait with my move until the end of the race and felt pretty good at the finish," added seven-time world champion Van der Poel. "Last year my preparation was better at this time. I had done more specific training. This year we planned it a bit later."
Nys had won the last two World Cup stages he participated in before the Namur race. He was also leading on the final lap this time, until a mistake led to a small crash and ruined his chance of victory.
"When Mathieu comes back, you can never predict how he will attack. Going into the last lap, I felt like I had a big explosion in my legs and I just took the lead to be in a good position. I made a tiny, stupid mistake that cost me a lot of seconds and dropped me to fourth. I still felt like I had power left, but Mathieu was already gone. It was my own fault," Nys said.
Van der Poel's next start will be at the World Cup event in Antwerp on December 20th.
Poor Vilmar Aastrup cramped as he was being lapped by the leading quartet who were taking a lap on him#CXWorldCup #cx #cyclocross pic.twitter.com/wdvsfpiKpA
— 🚴 The Kings of the Peloton 🚲 (@LRoisDuPeloton) December 14, 2025
🌈💥 MATHIEU '𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑' VAN DER POEL
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) December 14, 2025
🦈 Van der Poel smells blood, doesn't hesitate and debuts the cyclocross season with a victory after an exciting duel against Thibau Nys
📺 You could watch it on Eurosport and @StreamMaxES. #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/XAXV1np0sb
Namur gave its verdict! 👀
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 15, 2025
Here are your 2025/26 #CXWorldCup standings after Round 4️⃣ in Belgium. 📊 pic.twitter.com/12938pQn1c
It is GO time in Namur 💥
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 14, 2025
MVDP attacks and dispatches two riders.
Thibau Nys still part of the battle 🤺 as Vanthourenhout fights to get back on! #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Mz3rWsYFdf
