Mathieu van der Poel lived up to his towering favorite status at the Koksijde World Cup. The world champion soloed impressively to his fifth victory in the West Flanders sand. Laurens Sweeck (2nd) and Niels Vandeputte (3rd) joined him on the podium.
All week, fans, riders, and media talked about the long-awaited first duel between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, but in Antwerp there was no real head-to-head battle. World champion Van der Poel won the first cyclocross showdown with his eternal rival with almost playful ease, who in turn was not unhappy with his first race of the cyclocross season.
There's more to come, but at Koksijde we didn’t get a second clash between the two best cyclocross riders of the past decade. Van Aert did not start the famous Duinencross. Van der Poel did make an appearance in the sandcross and the Dutchman also didn’t have to worry about another strong contender, Thibau Nys. This cleared the way even more for a new cyclocross victory for the already so dominant MVDP.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Mathieu van der Poel |
| 2025 |  Laurens Sweeck |
| 2024 | Mathieu van der Poel |
| 2023 | Wout van Aert |
| 2021 | Eli Iserbyt |
Waiting for the world champion’s decisive acceleration
Before the start, Van der Poel said he wanted to feel things out a little more, but apparently the Dutch maestro couldn’t keep himself in check for long. In the second lap, he already pushed the pace. For a moment, it looked like yet another solo attack was on its way. Van der Poel immediately opened a promising gap, but it was none other than sand specialist Laurens Sweeck who personally reeled in the world champion.
Van der Poel braves the sand of Koksijde – photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Sweeck brought along a group of riders in his wake, including Tibor Del Grosso, Toon Aerts, and Niels Vandeputte, which kept the race competitive for a while. However, this proved short-lived, because after just over 25 minutes of racing, the inevitable and this time devastating acceleration came from the man in the rainbow jersey. Del Grosso and Vandeputte still resisted briefly, but it was only a delay of their sporting defeat.
Tension remains for the other podium spots
At the start of the fifth lap, Van der Poel’s lead had already stretched to twenty seconds, allowing the Dutchman to begin consolidating. While Van der Poel seemed on course for his 46th World Cup victory of his career, the fight for the remaining podium places remained very interesting to watch. Del Grosso, Vandeputte, and Sweeck were closely matched, and Aerts was not completely out of the picture yet.
In the shadow of the untouchable and flawless Van der Poel, Del Grosso regularly put pressure on his rivals, despite the Dutch champion visibly struggling with his back. Amid frequent stretching, he impressed with several strong sand sections, but Sweeck and Vandeputte were still lurking. The decision came only in the final lap, where Sweeck took the win on the fight for second place.
photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
The Belgian left Vandeputte and Del Grosso behind with some strong sand sections and secured second place behind the fading Van der Poel. Vandeputte crossed the line third, ahead of Del Grosso, who narrowly missed out on a podium after a strong race.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup - Koksijde| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56:36 | |
| 2 | + 07 | |
| 3 | + 13 | |
| 4 | + 23 | |
| 5 | + 01:04 | |
| 6 | + 01:17 | |
| 7 | + 01:20 | |
| 8 | + 01:26 | |
| 9 | + 01:37 | |
| 10 | + 01:38 |
| Rank | Rider | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurens Sweeck | 146 | |
| 2 | (1) | Michael Vanthourenhout | 128 |
| 3 | (2) | Niels Vandeputte | 125 |
| 4 | (3) | Mathieu van der Poel | 120 |
| 5 | (3) | Thibau Nys | 113 |
| 6 | (2) | Joris Nieuwenhuis | 103 |
| 7 | (1) | Emiel Verstrynge | 97 |
| 8 | (1) | Toon Vandebosch | 90 |
| 9 | (1) | Lars van der Haar | 86 |
| 10 | (1) | Pim Ronhaar | 84 |
