Mathieu van der Poel continued to dominate the cyclo-cross season, taking his 100th career victory in the mud on Saturday at the little-known Cyclocross Gullegem race in West Flanders.
With main rival and world champion Wout van Aert preferring to race in northern France on Sunday, van der Poel faced little problem in taking win number 100.
Gianni Vermeersch was the best of the rest in second place, with David van der Poel completing the podium with his brother after a strong fight back in the second part of the race.
Van der Poel started from the front but paced his ride carefully, eventually distancing Vermeersch, Jens Adams and Dieter Vanthourenhout and then opening a confortable lead of 20 seconds.
Adams was the last to be distanced, with Vanthourenhout and Michael Boros seemingly fighting for third place. However David van der Poel started his charge after 45 minutes of racing and Vermeersch attacked to catch and pass Adams.
Mathieu van der Poel further up the track and cruised to the finish line, capturing victory number 100.
Van der Poel does not count two victories from Masters Cyclocross races in Waregem in 2015 and 2018 but the Belgian media were quick to highlight the Dutch riders success at the age of just 23.
Van der Poel won his first professional cyclo-cross race at just 19 and has since won one world title, four Dutch national titles, two European Championships, 20 World Cup races, 25 Superprestige races, 16 DVV trophy races and 29 other races.
He will be chasing victory number 101 in Sunday’s DVV verzekeringen trofee race near Brussels.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon - Circus | 0:55:16 |
| 2 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Steylaerts - 777 | 0:00:05 |
| 3 | David Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon - Circus | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 4 | Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Bingoal | 0:00:11 |
| 5 | Michael Boroš (Cze) Creafin Tüv Sud | 0:00:31 |
| 6 | Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions | 0:00:42 |
| 7 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:00:43 |
| 8 | Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:00:45 |
| 9 | Braam Merlier (Bel) Creafin Tüv Sud | 0:01:49 |
| 10 | Kerry Werner (USA) | 0:02:13 |
| 11 | Berne Vankeirsbilck (Bel) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
| 12 | Curtis White (USA) | 0:02:42 |
| 13 | Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) | 0:02:49 |
| 14 | Dario Tielen (Bel) | 0:02:58 |
| 15 | Robin Alderweireld (Bel) | 0:03:29 |
| 16 | Yannick Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice | 0:03:44 |
| 17 | Xandro Meurisse (Bel) | 0:03:52 |
| 18 | Garry Millburn (Aus) | 0:04:13 |
| 19 | Mathieu Willemyns (Bel) | 0:04:22 |
| 20 | Yoni De Bock (Bel) | 0:04:50 |
| 21 | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) | 0:05:26 |
| 22 | Brecht Vandenheede (Bel) | 0:05:33 |
| 23 | Niels Koyen (Bel) | 0:06:27 |
| 24 | Tyler Cloutier (USA) | 2 laps |
| 25 | Mathias Declerck (Bel) | 2 laps |
| 26 | Jelle De Bock (Bel) | 3 laps |
| 27 | Francois Chastagner (Fra) | 4 laps |
| 28 | Peter Olejniczak (USA) | 4 laps |
| 29 | Josh Bauer (USA) | 4 laps |
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