Published December 9, 2025 12:19AM
Their biggest showdowns will come on the road this spring, but, make no mistake, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert‘s feverishly awaited cyclocross clashes will be must-watch racing.
The duo will cross swords for the first time in five months at the Antwerp Cyclocross World Cup on December 20, the first of five headline-making duels this winter.
It’s a huge boost for the sport, with the well-organized races of recent weeks not quite enjoying maximum publicity due to the absence of the two stars.
In ways that are not surprising: theirs is a rivalry for the ages, and one the Dutch, Belgian and international press love to hype.
Their first battles are over a dozen years old, including their gold and silver in the junior men’s cyclocross worlds back in 2012.
Since then Van der Poel and Van Aert have gone head to head multiple times on- and off-road. They have shown each other mutual respect but also plenty of competitiveness.
Forget the smiling, jovial bromance that exists between Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar. When it comes to these two, it’s more about straight-faced handshakes and nods of the head. More acknowledgement than real warmth.
And now their brawling is about to flare up once again.
Van der Poel will make his cyclocross season debut next Sunday in the Namur World Cup race. Van Aert will follow suit six days later in the Antwerp round of the series, marking their first tussle this winter.
The duo will also square up two days later in the X20 Trofee race in Hofstade on December 22.
Other showdowns will happen at the X20 Trofee race in Loenhout (December 29), the Exact Cross in Mol (January 2) and the Zonhoven round of the World Cup (January 4).
Expect a surge in interest from the fans plus the media as their on-off clashes flare up again.
A very different classics-Tour record
Mathieu Van der Poel beat Filippo Ganna and Wout Van Aert to win the 2023 Milan-San Remo (Photo: Chris Auld)
In ways Van Aert and Van der Poel are quite alike. They are both explosive, skillful riders who shine in CX competition and also on the road. Their punchy nature serves them very well uphills and in sprints, although Van Aert has had more success in the gallops when the group is a large one.
They have each won many one-day races and also stages in grand tours.
However when you drill down a little further, some differences emerge. Van Aert is by far the blockier rider yet, somewhat paradoxically, he has been the better climber. He has proved invaluable to Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour, helping him to win in 2022 and 2023, including by putting in huge stints in the mountains.
He even won a Tour stage atop Mont Ventoux, although that did come from a breakaway rather than in a head to head with the GC contenders.
And, lest you forget, he bettered Tadej Pogačar on the ascent of Montmartre in last year’s Tour and Isaac del Toro in the Strade Bianche-style finish in the Giro. Those are much shorter than the Alps, of course, but taking those two scalps is something to note.
Van der Poel’s tall, slim build looks better disposed to climbing but he hasn’t put that aspect together in the high mountains. His Tour record is much more modest too, with his two stage wins paling in comparison to the 10 stage victories plus the points jersey success of Van Aert.
However Van der Poel is undoubtedly a better classics rider. Thus far the 30-year-old has won eight monuments: three editions apiece of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, plus two of Milan-San Remo.
And Van Aert? Just one, the 2020 edition of San Remo.
And while he has also taken Strade Bianche, the Amstel Gold Race, Gent-Wevelgem, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad plus various other one day events, the enduring feeling is that the Belgian’s talent and his results in the classics have not yet matched up.
‘The best version of myself’
Wout Van Aert beat Van der Poel to win the E3 Saxo Classic in 2023 (Photo: Chris Auld)
For Van Aert, the upcoming road season is all about putting things right. He has been hampered by injury in recent years, suffering heavy crashes in the 2024 Dwars door Vlaanderen and in the Vuelta a España.
Those falls and their after effects put a wobble on the past two classics seasons, as did inopportune illnesses. However he’s hoping that things finally run smooth in 2026.
“I feel that I’ve been chasing [Flanders and Roubaix] my whole career,” he told The Athletic in a recent interview. “But I’m still chasing them. They would be the cherry on the cake. They would mean the world to me.”
He admitted that his big crashes had given him fear and tempted him to back off. However Van Aert grew frustrated with that.
“At some point, with the injuries and the setbacks, I swapped more to the idea of taking it a bit more easy, to avoid risks or danger, to take an easier schedule, to change goals. But I hated the races when I wasn’t on my level,” he said.
“I realized that I was in cycling to be the best version of myself and to have no regrets afterwards.”
This ‘no regrets’ policy is why he’s throwing all the chips down on the spring classics. He and Visma-Lease a Bike recently pounded the pavé of Paris-Roubaix, hitting the cobbles despite it being wet and slippery this time of year.
In addition to the training benefits and the skills improvements of returning to such terrain, they were trying out some cool tech which they hope will make a difference in April. The Gravaa tire inflators used by the team will enable riders to fine-tune their tire pressure during races to try to find the ideal balance between grip and speed.
Making choices with cobbles in mind
Mathieu van der Poel was best in the 2025 cyclocross world championships (Photo: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Van Aert’s efforts to win Flanders and Roubaix will also see him hold back somewhat on his beloved cyclocross racing.
He and Van der Poel are taking quite a different approach to the CX season, with the latter committing to between 12 and 13 races.
Van Aert will do eight, deciding on a smaller schedule as he believes that will best serve his classics goals.
He’s also hoping that a winter that is not affected by the Vuelta injury he was carrying into late 2024 will help him achieve a higher level.
“I can’t forget that I started training very late last year. I lost a lot of time and energy to rehab after my crash in the Vuelta,” he explained.
“Even if you reach a good level, you still feel the details here and there that you had to skip in preparation. I think that’s where the margin lies.”
Things hit a slight hiccup already; he missed several days of training last week. He then updated his Strava account Saturday and indicated that he had been sick.
Longer rides Sunday and Monday are encouraging, and so too his comment under the latest 100km excursion that he had ‘many symptoms of healing.’
In contrast Van der Poel’s buildup has been smoother, something that may give him early advantage in their five-race clash.
Still, what’s most important is how Van Aert fares later during his truncated eight-race schedule.
If he can exit the cross season with a win or two under his belt—particularly if these are ahead of Van der Poel—he will gladden the hearts of his fans, boost the visibility of race organizers, and head towards the classics feeling that 2026 might finally be the year he delivers at Flanders and Roubaix.
Schedule for 2025-2026 cyclocross season:
Mathieu van der Poel:
December 14: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Namur (TBC)
December 20: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Antwerp
December 21: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde
December 22: X2O Trofee, Hofstade
December 26: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Gavere
December 29: X2O Trofee, Loenhout
January 1: X2O Trofee, Baal
January 2: Exact Cross, Mol
January 4: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Zonhoven
January 18: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Benidorm (TBC)
January 24: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Maasmechelen
January 25: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Hoogerheide
February 1: UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, Hulst
Wout Van Aert:
Dec 20: UCI World Cup, Antwerp
Dec 22: X2O Trofee, Hofstade
Dec 23: Superprestige, Heusden-Zolder
Dec 28: UCI World Cup, Dendermonde
Dec 29: X2O Trofee, Loenhout
Jan 2: Exact Cross, Mol
Jan 4: UCI World Cup, Zonhoven
Jan 11: Belgian National Championships, Beringen
Headline stats: Van der Poel vs. Van Aert
2024-2025 cyclocross season:
MVDP: 8 wins in 8 starts
WVA: 2 wins in 6 starts
Head-to-head races, MVDP vs. WVA: 2 wins/0 wins
Cyclocross world championships career:
MVDP: 7 x elite titles, 2 x junior
WVA: 3 x elite titles, 1 x U23
Direct world title head-to-heads, MVDP vs. WVA: 7 wins/4 wins
Road monument career:
MVDP: 8 in total (3 x Flanders, 3 x Roubaix, 2 x San Remo)
WVA: 1 x San Remo
Direct monument head-to-heads, MVDP vs. WVA: 4 wins/1 win
Grand tour stage victories (not head-to-head):
MVDP: 3 x stage wins from 5 grand tours
WVA: 14 x stage wins from 9 grand tours