Thibau Nys convincingly won the first round of the 2025-2026 Cyclocross World Cup in Tábor. The Belgian champion took the lead early in the race, opened a gap on his rivals, and clinched a commanding victory in the Czech Republic.
The holeshot in the opening round of the Cyclocross World Cup went to Kevin Kuhn. The Swiss champion entered the course just ahead of Lars van der Haar and Thibau Nys. Due to the freezing cold and winter sun, the course had become quite slippery, promising an exciting race.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Thibau Nys |
| 2022 | Eli Iserbyt |
| 2021 |  Lars van der Haar |
| 2020 | Michael Vanthourenhout |
| 2019 | Mathieu van der Poel |
| 2018 | Mathieu van der Poel |
| 2016 |  Michael Boroš |
| 2015 | David van der Poel |
| 2013 | Lars van der Haar |
| 2012 | Kevin Pauwels |
Misfortune struck early for Cameron Mason and Pim Ronhaar. Mason seemed to suffer a flat tire right after the start, while Ronhaar was involved in a collision. Both fell out of the top-30 early on. Up front, Kuhn led the first lap, but after Nys took over, it was full throttle from all contenders. Joris Nieuwenhuis moved up alongside, and Emiel Verstrynge also managed to catch Nys.
Thibau Thibau Nys quickly took flight
A crash by Nieuwenhuis in one of the slippery corners created time gaps. Nys managed to open a 10-second gap on a group including Nieuwenhuis, Verstrynge, and Michael Vanthourenhout. Behind them, a large chase group formed featuring the surprising Andrew Strohmeyer, the American multiple-winner of the early cross season.
Nys was on a roll and extended his lead to 15 seconds over Vanthourenhout, who had himself broken away from his companions. The Belgian champion steadily pulled further away from the rest. Vanthourenhout, Nieuwenhuis, and Verstrynge were joined by Jente Michels, and those four seemed more occupied with each other than with the already gone Nys. Midway through the race, the gap was already over 25 seconds.
Battle for podium spots wide open, crashes play major role
The gap kept growing, also because there were crashes in the background. The most serious crash was by Michael Vanthourenhout, who went down hard on the asphalt, stayed down for a long time, and had to forget about a good result. With two laps remaining, the fight for the other podium places, behind the solo leader Nys, was still wide open. Verstrynge’s crash on the sloping section caused delays for both himself and Nieuwenhuis. This allowed riders like Laurens Sweeck to rejoin the contest.
The key question was: who would make the fewest mistakes in Tábor? Certainly not Nys. He took off his gloves for the final lap and powered toward the win in the first World Cup race of this season. Nys took no more risks but had enough of a lead to afford it and celebrated extensively. Sweeck rode a strong final lap to claim second place, ahead of Joris Nieuwenhuis and Jente Michels.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup - Tabor| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01:03:39 | |
| 2 | + 08 | |
| 3 | + 10 | |
| 4 | + 12 | |
| 5 | + 27 | |
| 6 | + 28 | |
| 7 | + 35 | |
| 8 | + 37 | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | + 41 |
| Rank | Rider | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thibau Nys | 80 | |
| 2 | Laurens Sweeck | 76 | |
| 3 | (1) | Joris Nieuwenhuis | 75 |
| 4 | (7) | Michael Vanthourenhout | 68 |
| 5 | (2) | Niels Vandeputte | 59 |
| 6 | (3) | Ryan Kamp | 55 |
| 7 | (4) | Lars van der Haar | 49 |
| 8 | (6) | Toon Vandebosch | 43 |
| 9 | (4) | Mees Hendrikx | 42 |
| 9 | (4) |  Cameron Mason | 42 |
