When Mathieu van der Poel had just sprinted to his first major success of 2023, he was still easy to talk about. "This is certainly one of the three most beautiful victories I've had in my career. I'll remember it for a long time," said the Dutchman about his fifth world title in cyclo-cross. However, he could not have known then that he was in for a year of many great and memorable victories.
Showdown at the World Cross-Country Championships
The cyclo-cross world championships in Hoogerheide brought the hoped-for showdown between the two top stars of the winter discipline. Mathieu van der Poel and the Belgian Wout van Aert were involved in a thrilling duel from the very first of the ten laps on a very fast course in the spring sunshine. The Dutchman in particular attacked time and again, but was unable to get rid of his long-time rival. As a result, van der Poel and the three-time cross world champion van Aert came closer and closer to the tarmac finishing straight until van der Poel pulled away early in the final sprint, taking the sprint-strong Belgian by surprise and maintaining his lead to the finish.
The thrilling cyclo-cross world championships brought powerful images, was good publicity and attracted around 50,000 spectators to the site where the most important cyclo-cross competition of the year took place. However, away from these outstanding festive days of cyclo-cross, there is more cause for concern. Sven Nys, the retired cyclo-cross superstar from Belgium, publicly expressed his thoughts at the start of the 2023/24 season. According to the 2005 and 2013 world champion, the fact that van der Poel and van Aert are still coming to the cross-country at all in winter is "a victory for the sport", but on the other hand, the organisers' focus on the two superstars also brings problems. It will become apparent that the two top stars will no longer be able to compete as often. "And then I think it's a shame that some of these organisers are disappointed and no longer organise anything in September and October." For Nys, one thing is certain: after the careers of the two mega-stars, cyclo-cross will once again be dominated by specialists in the discipline.
Solo victory for Fem van Empel at the 2023 Cyclocross World Championships
The new world champion Fem van Empel is one such specialist. The former U23 world champion took a solo victory on a wet and muddy circuit that was significantly more difficult than the men's course. The dominance of the Dutch women in this winter's racing discipline was once again evident. Eight women in orange lined up on the front row. With Puck Pieterse (silver) and Lucinda Brand (bronze), only Dutch women made it onto the podium.
