Maasmechelen-Hoogerheide double weekend saw almost identical results in all elite races, the big wins going to Puck Pieterse and Mathieu van der Poel.
Cor Vos, Kristof Ramon
The results that follow may not help my cause, but: Oh, boy! This weekend’s racing was brilliant.
The UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup culminated with a hopefully soon-to-be traditional double finale, with Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide sharing the final weekend for the second consecutive year (taking over from the double bill of X2O Flandriencross and Hoogerheide, until the former was shifted to its current November slot in 2024). The racing had a bit of everything, from domination to disappointment, not to mention newcomers staking a claim, all to whet the appetite before the World Championships crown the season in the Netherlands next week.
Mathieu van der Poel was a big winner out of the weekend, as expected, though it was by no means a foregone conclusion for the world champion who is hunting down records left, right and centre. Meanwhile, Puck Pieterse has arrived on tip-top form at the perfect moment, just as doubt struck to the core of Lucinda Brand’s rainbow hopes on the first bad weekend of her stellar season. The results, from first through third in all four elite events, might paint a bleak picture for some, but as always with cyclocross, there are layers upon layers beneath the surface, and you do not have to dig very far.
This weekend’s results:
World Cup Maasmechelen, Belgium (24 Jan) – Puck Pieterse and Mathieu van der PoelWorld Cup Hoogerheide, Netherlands (25 Jan) – Puck Pieterse and Mathieu van der Poel
And just like that, the World Cup is over. There’s only one more major booking left in the diary, and that’s next weekend’s World Championships – there are a couple more races to wrap up the season in Belgium after that, but it all peaks at Worlds. The competition is sure to be a treat on the punishing Hulst course, a Worlds on home soil for Van der Poel who is going after the all-time Championship record of eight elite titles. As for the women’s race? It’s frankly anyone’s guess after this weekend’s drama, during which all the favourites seem almost to have converged, leaving us with but one certainty: it’s not one to miss.
Maasmechelen has one of the more distinctive backdrops, taking place in the Hoge Kempen National Park amidst the old coal mining infrastructure of Eisden.
Amandine Fouquenet was quick off the start in the elite women’s race, as has become familiar. She’s yet to take a really big win, but the French rider has made an indelible mark on the 2025-26 season.
Lucinda Brand can also boast a deep mark, but all was not well at Maasmechelen. The World Cup leader (winner) was on the back foot from the start.
The steep off-camber ramp was a key obstacle on the course.
Pieterse had a very fast start, hunting down her first World Cup win in two years.
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