Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) claimed his fourth World Cup win of the season in Gavere on a rare frozen edition of the classic Boxing Day round.
He distanced Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) with an acceleration after Nys slipped out of his pedal on the seventh lap of the nine-lap race. Tibor Del Grosso completed the podium after winning a tight sprint from Toon Aerts and Emiel Verstrynge.
Elite Men Results
Gavere • Dec 26
| Pos | Rider | NATNationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Mathieu VAN DER POEL | NED | 1:03:15 |
| 🥈 | Thibau NYS | BEL | +0:21 |
| 🥉 | Tibor DEL GROSSO | NED | +0:23 |
| 4 | Toon AERTS | BEL | +0:23 |
| 5 | Emiel VERSTRYNGE | BEL | +0:23 |
| 6 | Michael VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | +0:32 |
| 7 | Joran WYSEURE | BEL | +0:54 |
| 8 | Mees HENDRIKX | NED | +1:10 |
| 9 | Lars VAN DER HAAR | NED | +1:21 |
| 10 | Cameron MASON | GBR | +1:26 |
| 11 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | +1:42 |
| 12 | Filippo FONTANA | ITA | +1:49 |
| 13 | Wout JANSSEN | BEL | +1:58 |
| 14 | Toon VANDEBOSCH | BEL | +1:59 |
| 15 | Rémi LELANDAIS | FRA | +2:06 |
| 16 | Nathan BOMMENEL | FRA | +2:13 |
| 17 | Michael BOROŠ | CZE | +2:24 |
| 18 | Niels VANDEPUTTE | BEL | +2:32 |
| 19 | David MENUT | FRA | +2:40 |
| 20 | Sil DE BRAUWERE | BEL | +2:43 |
| 21 | Viktor VANDENBERGHE | BEL | +2:49 |
| 22 | Romain DEBORD | FRA | +2:49 |
| 23 | Thomas MEIN | GBR | +3:08 |
| 24 | Samuele SCAPPINI | ITA | +3:15 |
| 25 | Pim RONHAAR | NED | +3:18 |
| 26 | Daniel NIELSEN | DEN | +3:20 |
| 27 | Gioele BERTOLINI | ITA | +3:31 |
| 28 | Danny VAN LIEROP | NED | +3:58 |
| 29 | Felipe ORTS LLORET | ESP | +4:09 |
| 30 | Mario JUNQUERA SAN MILLAN | ESP | +4:23 |
| 31 | Bailey GROENENDAAL | DEN | +4:38 |
| 32 | Max RIJVERS | NED | +5:16 |
| 33 | Tommaso CAFUERI | ITA | +5:20 |
| 34 | Corentin LEQUET | FRA | +5:29 |
| 35 | Remon DELNOIJE | NED | +5:42 |
| 36 | Raul MIRA BONASTRE | ESP | +5:49 |
| 37 | Théo THOMAS | FRA | +6:00 |
| 38 | Gonzalo INGUANZO MACHO | ESP | - |
| 39 | Nicolas BARD | SUI | - |
| 40 | Dylan ZAKRAJSEK | USA | - |
| 41 | Tyler CLARK | CAN | - |
| 42 | Ryan DRUMMOND | USA | - |
| 43 | Noah SHELTON | USA | - |
| 44 | David RISBERG | SWE | - |
| 45 | Jules VAN KEMPEN | USA | - |
| 46 | Jacob TURNER | NZL | - |
| 47 | Aidan VOLLMUTH | USA | - |
| 48 | Alan ZANOLINI | ITA | - |
| 49 | Liam SARGENT | CAN | - |
| 50 | Carden KING | USA | - |
| 51 | Lorenzo DE LONGHI | ITA | - |
| 52 | Edoardo BOLZAN | ITA | - |
| 53 | Remi BRISEBOIS | CAN | - |
| 54 | Philipp HEIGL | AUT | - |
| 55 | Rhett BATES | CAN | - |
| 56 | Jack BERNHARD | USA | - |
| 57 | Frederick JUNGE | USA | - |
| 58 | Marcos GOMEZ VEGA | ESP | - |
| 59 | Yuta OKAYAMA | JPN | - |
| 60 | Kosuke ENDO | JPN | - |
| 61 | Dovydas LUKŠAS | LTU | - |
| 62 | Artur NICHVOLODOV | UKR | - |
| 63 | Tetsuki KAJI | JPN | - |
How the race unfolded
On a hard‑packed, sub‑zero course that rode faster than anyone is used to in Gavere, the opening laps were all about survival in the front group. Thibau Nys exploded from the start and led much of the first lap, but by the end of the first full lap a six‑man selection had formed: Van der Poel, Nys, Vanthourenhout, Del Grosso, Hendrikx and Verstrynge.
Van der Poel rode conservatively early, sitting on Nys through the long drag to the castle and matching lines on the frozen ruts. The pace went up on lap four, the pair clocking a 6:50 circuit that finally prised the podium fight away from the rest. Nys continued to animate the race, repeatedly accelerating on the climbs but Van der Poel was always able to match him.
The decisive move came on lap seven. Van der Poel punched clear on the steepest section of the main climb – Nys slipped out of his pedal at exactly the wrong moment and stalled. Van der Poel’s 6:42 lap – the fastest of the race – opened 19s in one go and effectively settled the win.
Behind, Del Grosso, Aerts (who had bridged to the leading group by the end of lap 2) and Verstrynge regrouped and rode Vanthourenhout off the podium fight. Del Grosso rode a 6:50 final lap to secure his spot on the World Cup podium.
"To be honest I didn't expect that I would be able to drop [Nys]," Van der Poel said following the race finish, "I saw he made a mistake in the wheel and I had to go."
"Thibau was really strong. Technically he was really impressive."
Who gained what
- Van der Poel confirms he’s still the reference but had to go deep to shake Nys.
- Nys looks fully back from his back issues at Antwerpen – matching Van der Poel for an hour on this course is a statement.
- Del Grosso secured his first elite World Cup podium
- Sweeck (11th) hangs onto the World Cup lead by a single point over Van der Poel, setting up a genuine overall fight for the remaining rounds.
Van der Poel is sitting out the next round in Dendermonde, opening the door for Sweeck to reestablish a lead and for Wout van Aert to finally get a victory this season.
Cover image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
