Mathieu van der Poel shows supremacy in the snow at Zonhoven World Cup
Mathieu van der Poel claimed a commanding victory at the Zonhoven World Cup. The world champion broke away from the competition during the opening lap and then rode solo for an hour. Tibor Del Grosso finished second, Emiel Verstrynge third. With his win, Van der Poel also became the new leader in the World Cup standings.
The Zonhoven event featured a strong men's field. Wout van Aert had to end his cyclocross campaign prematurely after his crash in Mol, but world champion Mathieu van der Poel was present. His main competitors included Thibau Nys, Emiel Verstrynge, and his teammate Tibor Del Grosso.
Van der Poel quickly breaks away solo
In recent races, Van der Poel sometimes waited a few laps before making a move, but in Zonhoven he made an instant impact. The Dutchman got off the line superbly, entered the field first, and immediately surged ahead. Toon Aerts initially managed to keep pace, but the rest of the field fell back right away. Even Thibau Nys—who also had a good start—had to concede a gap immediately. That fate soon befell Aerts as well: halfway through the first lap, MVDP was already clear.
At the first passage over the line, the gap between Van der Poel and Aerts was already eleven seconds. Verstrynge, Nys, and Niels Vandeputte followed fifteen seconds behind, with Nieuwenhuis and Del Grosso at 25 seconds. Dutch champion Del Grosso then bridged to the Nys group, which reunited with Aerts. The assembled group of five passed the second lap at half a minute behind.
Thibau Nys Crash
The gap then even extended to nearly three-quarters of a minute, but after suffering simultaneous front and rear punctures, Van der Poel lost some of his advantage. His lead dropped back to nineteen seconds. Among the chasers, Del Grosso initially took the lead, but after a slip and bike change, Nys took over. The Belgian champion created a gap on Del Grosso by the end of the fourth lap, with Del Grosso also suffering a puncture following his crash.
Nys pushed hard but slipped on a straight section moments later. He went over the fence and broke his handlebars. Physically, he seemed mostly unscathed, but with a broken handlebar, he had to cover a significant distance to the next exchange zone partly running and partly riding slowly. He lost many positions this way. This was a serious setback for his World Cup ambitions.
Meanwhile, Van der Poel increased his lead over the competition again. His victory was never in doubt. He earned his ninth consecutive win of this cyclo-cross season and remains undefeated.
The battle for second place remained exciting. After Nys dropped out, it was between Verstrynge and Del Grosso. The Dutchman managed to distance the Belgian on the sixth lap and started the final lap with a nine-second advantage. He would not relinquish that lead. Del Grosso thus finished second and Verstrynge third. Ultimately, Nys crossed the line nineteenth.
