Michael Vanthourenhout accelerated away from a small group to win the third round of the World Cup in Terralba, Sardinia, on Sunday. The Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriedbouw rider claimed his first World Cup victory and fourth win of the 2025-2026 season after crashing a few weeks ago.
Vanthourenhout used his sand skills to make his move to power away from a group of six riders, sprinting off and onto his bike on stairs and held off his pursuers on the unpaved straightaway to the finish line.
Crossing the line one second later, Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing Team) finished second, just ahead of Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon), who was third.
In a tight tactical race, a group of 11 riders pulled away after six laps of racing, with Nieuwenhuis and Vanthourenhout taking turns setting the pace at the front. There was a battle for position and some argy-bargy in the front until the 31-year-old Belgian made his decisive move on the final lap.
“It was a truly difficult week, so it's good to be back fighting for the win, so I'm happy,” Vanthourenhout said.
“I feel I was a little bit better on the sand sections. It was difficult to fight for the positions and then the last lap, I gave everything.”
Sweeck’s third-place finish cut his deficit to overall leader Thibau Nys down to just four points. Nieuwenhuis moved up to third spot, just one point behind Sweeck, while last year overall winner Vanthourenhout is now in fourth place, 12 points in arrears.
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With six of the current World Cup top 10 skipping the trip to Sardinia, the third round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup offered a prime opportunity for outsiders to score valuable points. Absent from the start list were Nys, Lars van der Haar (3rd), Cameron Mason (5th), Jente Michels (6th), Emiel Verstrynge (8th), and Belgian champion Toon Aerts (10th).
How it unfolded
After last year’s Sardinia round was cancelled, the World Cup returned to the Italian island at a new venue in Terralba, featuring a fast 3.1 km course packed with sand sections, park loops, village streets, and lagoon-side straights. Starting in Marceddì, the 36 riders navigated multiple sand sectors, winding park passages beneath stone pines, a staircase by the church, and a final unpaved run to the finish.
Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing Team) was the fastest off the line to lead the field onto the course, with brakes squealing as the field navigated the course peppered by deep puddles created by previous rainy days.
Over the next six laps, Nieuwenhuis and Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriedbouw) traded turns on the front as a group of 11 riders began to break away heading into lap seven of nine.
The front group included Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Glowi Lions), Ryan Kamp and Niels Vandeputte (both Alpecin-Deceuninck Development), Victor van de Putte (Deschacht -Hens-CX Team), Mees Hendrikx (Heizomat-Cube) and the trio of Crelan-Corendon riders Laurens Sweeck, Joran Wyseure and Toon Vandebosch. Breaking into the mix of Belgian and Dutch riders in the front group was Italian Filippo Agostunacchio (EF Education-Easypost Oalty) to the delight of the tiffosi cheering around the course.
Mud-splattered Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriedbouw) takes the front (Image credit: Getty Images)
With three laps to go, Sweeck made his first move to take over the front, with some riders struggling to keep up with the pace set by the 31-year-old Belgian. Sweeck and other riders bumped shoulders as argy-bargy appeared at the front, riders jostling for position, but the 11 riders led by Vanthourenhout were still together with two laps to go.
Vanthourenhout led the now 10-rider lead group after Wyseure went down on the bell lap. Though Nieuwenhuis took over the pacemaking briefly, Vanthourenhout made his way back to the front before the final sand pit, and then accelerated onto the stairway in front of the church and held off the chasers for the victory.
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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