Joris Nieuwenhuis started off the 2025–2026 cyclo-cross season strong, winning three races and taking the lead in the X2O Badkamers Trofee series. But a crash at round five of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Antwerp may have derailed his season. On that day, only for the second time this season, the Ridley Racing rider finished outside the top ten, placing 16th. Although he managed a sixth-place finish at X2O Trofee Hofstade two days later, he was forced to abandon both Superprestige Heusden-Zolder and the World Cup in Gavere.
“I haven't been feeling very fit the last few days. My DNFs are quite rare and I had hoped to keep it that way. But since my fall in Antwerp I don't feel the same way on the bike. My knee was hit hard and I can still feel it with everything I do,” Nieuwenhuis shared on his Instagram feed.
“After the race we decided to get everything double checked before we start racing again. Keep you posted!”
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After news spread that his season may be temporarily on hold, Nieuwenhuis added this update via his stories: “The season is not on hold. It is especially time to wait and see how the body reacts in the coming days. Depending on that, we'll see which races I'm going to ride.”
After a difficult 2024-2025 ‘cross season where he was sidelined for months with shingles, the 29-year-old was ready for this year, after a full season of gravel racing where he was runner-up at the Marly Grav Race in the Zuid-Limburg region.
In October, he came out with a bang, securing an early victory at Heerde, followed by a win at Rapencross, the second round of the X2O Trofee in Lokeren. A triumph that put him atop the series leaderboard, when he said that his “goal is to win a classification.”
The X2O Trofee - the only series where time and not points are counted - is one of the lucrative ‘cross series with the winner taking home €30,000, from the total prize money of €70,000, distributed among the 15 best-placed riders.
With four events completed, Nieuwenhuis has a 24-second lead on British Champion Cameron Mason (Seven Racing) and 42 seconds on Belgian Champion Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions).
The series continues with Azencross in Loenhout on December 29, and GP Sven Nys in Baal on January 1st, 2026.
