Mathieu van der Poel dominated the Benidorm World Cup with a commanding display of power. The Dutchman, who secured his tenth victory of the cyclocross season, made the difference in the first lap and then rode solo for the remainder of the race. Thibau Nys finished second, with local rider Felipe Orts taking third.
Mathieu van der Poel initially seemed set to skip the Benidorm World Cup, but the day before the race, it was announced he would still start. The World Cup leader, who remained undefeated this winter, went to Costa Blanca aiming for his tenth win of the season. Thibau Nys and Tibor Del Grosso were considered his main challengers. Just over 15,000 spectators were expected to watch the battle live.
Van der Poel breaks away
Del Grosso and Van der Poel entered the field first — in that order. Nys got off to a decent start as well, positioning himself around fifth, just behind Niels Vandeputte and Toon Aerts. Initially, the group stayed together, but when Aerts crashed at the barriers, a gap opened behind Del Grosso and Van der Poel. Had the two Dutch riders already made their escape?
photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Nys went into chase mode, but Van der Poel and Del Grosso already had a solid lead as they hit the sloping section towards the finish. Here, Van der Poel took over from his younger teammate. The world champion then put in such a hard effort that Del Grosso had to drop off. The young Alpecin-Premier Tech rider fell back to Nys by the second lap, but Nys was not ready to give up yet.
Battling for second place
The Belgian champion dropped Del Grosso and tried to close the gap to MVDP. However, Nys soon started breathing his own oxygen: Del Grosso came back, followed by Joris Nieuwenhuis rejoining, and by the end of the second lap, there was almost half a peloton together again. That group was already half a minute behind Van der Poel. The world champion still had six laps to go, but no one doubted he would take the win.
The focus shifted mainly to the fight for second place. Nieuwenhuis, Nys, and Mees Hendrikx slightly distanced themselves from the rest at first, but Aerts, Del Grosso, Niels Vandeputte, and local rider Felipe Orts managed to return later. In lap five, Orts tried to sneak away from behind and opened a nice gap. At the next passage, he came through second, nearly three-quarters of a minute behind Van der Poel. The Spanish champion was soon joined by the bridged Nys.
photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Nys took over from Orts and urged the Spaniard to stay on his wheel as the duo tried to stay clear of the chasers together. Although Orts could no longer lead, Nys kept waiting for his partner on the Ridley bike. The Belgian led his companion deep into the final stages. When the bell rang, the two had about a twenty-second gap on the chasing group.
Nys second, Orts third
Meanwhile, Van der Poel was able to coast home. The world champion changed bikes in the final lap, took his tenth victory of the winter, and remains undefeated this cyclocross season. Behind him, Nys finished second, while Orts secured his dreamed podium spot in third.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup - Benidorm| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01:01:04 | |
| 2 | + 28 | |
| 3 | + 32 | |
| 4 | + 44 | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | + 45 | |
| 7 | + 46 | |
| 8 | + 48 | |
| 9 | + 52 | |
| 10 | + 56 |
| Rank | Rider | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mathieu van der Poel | 240 | |
| 2 |  Thibau Nys | 220 | |
| 3 | (2) | Niels Vandeputte | 197 |
| 4 | (1) | Michael Vanthourenhout | 187 |
| 5 | (1) | Laurens Sweeck | 186 |
| 6 | Emiel Verstrynge | 165 | |
| 7 | (1) | Tibor Del Grosso | 161 |
| 8 | (1) | Toon Aerts | 158 |
| 9 | Mees Hendrikx | 151 | |
| 10 | Joris Nieuwenhuis | 141 |
