Van der Poel heads to Hulst Worlds with perfect cross season record and all-time World Cup wins mark

Ahead of the race, the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider arrived in Hoogerheide by bike. “It’s always good to come by bike, it helps to loosen up the legs,” Van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad before the start.

The seven time world champion expected a tough race beforehand. “The course is riding fast, so it will be a difficult race. Yesterday [in Maasmechelen] it was easier to make the difference. Here it’s harder, because when Hoogerheide is fast you can’t get away easily.”

In the opening two laps, Van der Poel initially appeared to bide his time. But when Tibor Del Grosso accelerated at the start of the third lap, Van der Poel immediately followed his teammate before launching an attack of his own.

Within a lap, Van der Poel had already opened up a 20 second lead, and over the following laps he extended it further each time as he kept pushing, reaching 1.20 minute by the last lap.

Behind him, the battle was far tighter, with a group of more than ten riders fighting for the remaining podium places. In the end, Tibor Del Grosso and Niels Vandeputte claimed the two spots alongside Van der Poel, once again completing an all Alpecin-Premier Tech podium, just like yesterday. Vandeputte edged Thibau Nys on the line after Nys kicked too early and was caught in the final metres.

With that victory, Van der Poel also secured the overall UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup title and claimed the outright record for most World Cup wins with 51, breaking the mark he had drawn level with the day before, previously held by Sven Nys.

Next Sunday, 1 February, Van der Poel will bring his cyclocross season to a close as he hunts for an eighth world title in Hulst, which would make him the outright record holder, moving clear of Erik De Vlaeminck, with whom he currently shares the record. 

Much of the rest of the field will continue racing through February, with the Internationale Oostmalle Cross as the final stop on 22 February.