1/3 Mathieu van der Poel in action during the World Cycling World Cup in Lievin, France: ANP).
Mathieu van der Poel won his seventh world title cyclocross in Liévin, France, on Sunday afternoon. With that he equals the record of the Belgian Erik de Vlaeminck.
Van der Poel left his mark early in the game. He was rapidly ahead of his competitors. After four rounds, the Belgian Wout van Aert managed to pull himself off from the chasing group, but he no longer came close to Van der Poel.
The world champion says that the seventh world title ‘Much means for me’: “It’s history, it’s a record that has been around for a long time. If you become a cyclist, you hope to get a world title once. But you can’t imagine That you succeed seven times too. “
Won everything
Van der Poel won all seven crosses where he was at the start this winter. In the past crosses, a broken rib could not keep him off the win in the last crosses.
For many cycling fans, it was already a certainty on Sunday in advance that he would also grab gold at the World Cup cyclocross. The rider from Hoogerheide himself was less firm in advance “if only if I was already walking to the stage,” he laughed in front of the NOS camera.
Youngest world champion ever
Van der Poel (30) became the youngest world champion ever in Tábor in 2015. He was then twenty years and thirteen days old. He then captured world titles in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and last year in Tábor.
On the road he won the world title in Glasgow in 2023. Next year he can take his eighth world title in Hulst in Zeeland.
Fem van Empel
Also among the women there was Brabant cycling this weekend. Fem van Empel from Den Dungen became the cyclocross world champion on Saturday for the third year in a row.
Also read: Third time gold for Fem van Empel at World Cup cyclocross: ‘was a tough battle’
