Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) made an elegant return to the cyclo-cross tracks - in the first race of the season, the Namur World Championship stage, his duel with Thibau Nys (Baloise-Glowi Lions) was quite nerve-wracking, but the Dutchman made his superiority pay on the last lap.
A crash on the final lap proved fatal for Nys, and van der Poel's sixth victory in Namur was a fact. Nys lost 9 seconds at the finish and Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) 11 seconds.
"It's always difficult here on the track. But in the end I'm happy with the victory," said van der Poel shortly after the race.
Van der Poel was patient for most of the race and did not make his first attack until the seventh of the nine laps. At times he appeared to be struggling and fell over the handlebars in the middle of the track. Van der Poel fought with three rivals throughout the race and made the tactical decision to wait for the right moment to break away from them, putting all his strength into play on the final lap after Nys crashed.
"I made an early decision to wait until the end of the race to make a move and I felt pretty good at the end," added seven-time world champion van der Poel. "Last year my preparation was better at the same time. I had done more specific training. This year we planned it a little later."
Nys had won the last two World Cup stages he had participated in before the Namur race. Nys was also leading on the final lap until a mistake led to a small crash and ruined his chance to win.
"When Mathieu comes back, you never know how he's going to 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 very small, stupid mistake that cost me a lot of seconds and dropped me to fourth. I still felt like I had some strength left, but Mathieu was already gone. It was my own fault," said Nys.
Van der Poel will next start at the World Cup stage in Antwerp on December 20.
Le pauvre Vilmar Aastrup pris de crampe alors qu'il était doublé par le quatuor de tête qui lui prenait un tour #CXWorldCup #cx #veldrijden pic.twitter.com/wdvsfpiKpA
— 🚴 Les Rois du Peloton 🚲 (@LRoisDuPeloton) December 14, 2025
🌈💥 MATHIEU '𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑' VAN DER POEL
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) December 14, 2025
🦈 Van der Poel huele sangre, no duda y debuta en la temporada de ciclocross con victoria tras un apassionante duel ante Thibau Nys
📺 Lo has podido vivir en Eurosport y @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's 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
