Preview: X20 Trofee Koppenbergcross 2025 – Will Thibau Nys Dominate Right Away?

Course

The Koppenbergcross course is a blueprint of last season. Before the 2016 edition, the circuit in Melden was last thoroughly adjusted. Because the meadow on the left side of the Koppenberg was no longer allowed to be used due to financial reasons, a brand-new course was drawn on the right side of the hill. Also new was the finish at the cobbled summit of the climb, instead of the finish on the flat asphalt road below.

Since 2023, a small adjustment has been made again. The long loop (bottom left on the map) was removed and instead more emphasis was placed on the descents and thus also on technical skills.

The start is, by now customary, given at the foot of the Koppenberg and only after the first passage past the finish do the riders turn right and enter the field – after the first double pit stop passage – to climb an extra stretch up to the top of the Koppenberg.

Then the descent begins, of course interrupted a few times. As in previous editions, the Koppenberg itself will again be the ultimate test. On the Koppenbergcross website, a nice summary of the course is provided. “Challenging climbs and spectacular descents follow each other in quick succession, with some sections for recovery here and there.”

“Clear for the spectators and a guarantee for an impressive race flow. The showpiece of the Koppenbergcross remains, of course, the cobbled climb towards the finish, atop the steepest section of the infamous Bult van Melden.”

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We get a big name added to the cyclocross scene on Saturday. Precisely on the Koppenberg, where two years ago he took one of his first major victories – and where his father Sven holds the record with nine wins – Thibau Nys kicks off his cyclocross winter. And the 22-year-old European champion does so, as always, with a good dose of ambition.

Nys came out somewhat drained from the road season but then took two weeks off. "That is not only physically very important after such a tough summer but also mentally," father Sven tells our camera. "After those two weeks of rest, you could see the hunger return and the eagerness to dive in and to be dominant in this discipline as well. I have seen that grow every week, up until now when the Koppenbergcross is coming. I am convinced he will be immediately strong," he says confidently.

In the cyclocross world, there is a fear that Nys, who now has the Tour in his legs, will be even stronger than last winter. “We won’t see that Tour form immediately,” Sven soothes. “It won’t so much be in extra bursts of speed. I think it will more be expressed in extra stability. Completing a Tour de France the way he did will pay off anyway. That has been the case for everyone, but Thibau still had a bit of a surplus and the feeling that he wasn’t completely drained.”

In any case, the rest is warned. Especially Michael Vanthourenhout, who won the first two classification cross races of the winter. In those races, Vanthourenhout was not only physically but also tactically the strongest. Letting the young guns wear themselves out first, to then go solo in the last quarter of the race for the win. This gave his new sponsor Altez Industriebouw a perfect start.

In the last three races, Pim Ronhaar has been emerging strongly. Before that, we had hardly noticed him, but suddenly there he was, with three consecutive second places. Ronhaar races sometimes recklessly, but that is also his great strength, he believes. The leader of the Baloise Glowi Lions certainly makes the races more enjoyable to watch and sooner or later that will pay off.

We are also curious about Joris Nieuwenhuis at the Koppenberg. Not because of his current form, because Nieuwenhuis – who narrowly missed winning in Ruddervoorde by a tire width and celebrated in Heerderstrand – is doing quite well. But because it has been since 2018 (!) that the experienced cyclocross rider last started on the Bult van Melden. Countless factors prevented it year after year, but now the climber Nieuwenhuis should perform nonetheless. He certainly has it in him.

Furthermore, former winner Lars van der Haar will also start in Oudenaarde, but given his current form, it is questionable whether Van der Haar will still be competing for the prizes. Laurens Sweeck is absent, but Crelan-Corendon does send two strong climbers: Emiel Verstrynge and Toon Vandebosch. Especially Verstrynge, third in the Druivencross, can surpass himself on a good day.