A large group went into the final two laps of Sunday’s third round of the 2025-2026 UCI Cyclocross World Cup in muddy, sandy Terralba, Sardinia, Italy to contest the win. Michael Vanthourenhout beat Joris Nieuwenhuis and Laurens Sweeck in the final corners to earn the hard-fought triumph. Absent Thibau Nys leads Sweeck by four points at the top of the overall classification.
Preliminaries
With a second consecutive WC win in Flamanville, Nys extended his overall lead to 29 points over Sweeck and 31 back to absent Lars van der Haar. Sweeck, who took the 2022-2023 World Cup and 2018-2019 Superprestige overall titles, was poised to take over the series lead from Nys.
Nieuwenhuis nabbed the hole shot on Lap 1 and led the long string into the sand, Niels Vandeputte in Position 2. There weren’t many significant gaps after one circuit.
A group containing Nieuwenhuis, Sweeck, Vandeputte, Michael Vanthourenhout and Toon Vandebosche tried to get clear at the start of Lap 2, but the string was knotted again. Vanthourenhout grabbed the reins.
Thirteen riders including Italian Filippo Agostinacchio made up the front group on Lap 3 of 9, only a small gap splitting it by the line. The stalemate on Lap 4 sewed it up again. Eleven chaps headed into Lap 5 together, Pim Ronhaar making a rare appearance at the business end of a 2025 race.
Vanthourenhout went back to the front on Lap 6, thinning out the pack only slightly. Sweeck finally pulled at the beginning of Lap 7, Agostinacchio struggling to keep up. Although Sweeck was the only fellow who pitted, he still led. Sweeck and Ronhaar went elbow to elbow, the former getting agitated.
Ronhaar took a fresh bike on the penultimate lap of this cagey affair. Vanthourenhout led when the 11 riders heard the bell. Their eyes were all slits in a mud mask.
Daylight appeared between Vanthourenhout, Nieuwenhuis and Sweeck early in the bell lap. Vandeputte and Ryan Kamp made it over. Nieuwenhuis splashed to the front but Vanthourenhout seized it back and made a surge right before the final short flight of stairs to take the win.
The next World Cup round is next Sunday in Namur, the first of seven races in Belgium, where Mathieu van der Poel is due to make his season debut.
2025-2026 UCI Cyclocross World Cup, Round 3, Terralba
1) Michael Vanthourenhout (Belgium/Pauwels Sauzen)…
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