Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) overcame serious competition from Thibau Nys (Baloise-Glowi Lions) to win on his return to cyclocross in the Namur round of the UCI World Cup.
The world champion looked under pressure from the young Belgian for large parts of the race, but benefitted from a final lap crash from Nys which allowed him to stretch clear and take his sixth career victory in Namur.
Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) finished third having more than played his part on the day, with Lars van der Haar (Baloise-Glowi Lions) forming the final part of an elite quartet at the forefront of the race.
How it unfolded
With Van der Poel starting back on the fourth row, there was a chance for the riders on the front row to take a well-needed advantage heading into the opening lap. Toon Vandenbosch (Crelan Corendon) took the lead on the challenging opening ascent ahead of Vanthourenhout as Van der Poel calmly scythed his way through the traffic.
The world champion was through to the top-10 in the opening two minutes of racing and continued to pick off riders as Vanthourenhout attacked at the front. Van der Poel was making light work of things as he rode half-way up the final bank before the finish straight as others ran. Van der Poel was on the wheel of Vanthourenhout as the riders began the second lap with Nys closing the gap behind and towing a small group with him.
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