On the afternoon of this Sunday, February 4th, Mathieu van der Poel, in a perfect performance, triumphed once again and won his sixth Cyclocross world title. The Dutchman dropped his opponents in the first lap, gradually increasing his advantage and crossing the finish line as the undisputed leader after an hour of competition.
Van der Poel’s absolute dominance
In recent months, Van der Poel has been practically unbeatable on the Cyclocross circuit. His overwhelming dominance established him as the undisputed favorite for the world championship in Tábor, even with the absences of Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock.
The current champion left no doubt at all from the start of the race. Van der Poel was the first to accelerate. Niels Vandeputte, his teammate at Alpecin-Deceuninck, was the only one who was initially able to keep up with him. Joris Nieuwenhuis was alone in third place, closely followed by Eli Iserbyt, Ryan Kamp and Michael Vanthourenhout.
Van der Poel takes over the race, 4 minutes after the start
Just four minutes into the race, Van der Poel takes command and leaves his competitors behind. Although Nieuwenhuis managed to overtake Vandeputte, the Dutch Champion was unable to close the considerable gap that separated him from the competition leader.
Even so, Nieuwenhuis closed Van der Poel’s lead to eight seconds at the end of the first round. At this point, Clément Venturini had already advanced to third position, just 24 seconds behind Van der Poel.
Van der Poel maintains lead
The gap between Van der Poel and Nieuwenhuis continued to grow at a steady pace throughout the race. Halfway through the competition, Mathieu Van der Poel was more than 30 seconds ahead of second place.
The last lap was peaceful for Van der Poel, who was able to celebrate his sixth world title quite calmly. Behind him, Nieuwenhuis still had to give his all to secure second position, as Vanthourenhout was starting the final round just 12 seconds behind.
However, the Dutchman remained sovereign, securing the silver medal, while Vanthourenhout took the bronze.
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Tábor 2024 World Cyclocross Championship Results
