A stellar Mathieu van der Poel has won his seventh world title in cyclocross in Lievin and has equaled Erik De Vlaeminck, who until now was the absolute record holder.

"Winning a world title is something you dream of since childhood, but winning seven titles is truly incredible. This means a lot to me and means I have written a piece of history".

Next year the Cyclocross World Championship will be held in Hulst and if the Dutchman wins, he would become the sole record holder, moreover in his home country. "For now it's difficult to say what will happen next year and I'm just focused on enjoying this new victory".

The race was not easy and the Dutchman himself had to deal with punctures. The race went as expected and Van der Poel immediately started accelerating to the maximum, trying to create an immediate gap behind him and maintain an important advantage until the end of the competition.

"During yesterday's track reconnaissance, we saw it was better to create an immediate gap like Tibor Del Grosso did. I had a good start and immediately found a good feeling with the course. I knew when I needed to be ahead to do what I wanted and maintain a certain advantage".

Without a doubt, Van der Poel was once again the undisputed dominator of the race and, despite Van Aert's comeback, who finished second, no opponent was able to worry the Dutchman.

"I decided to accelerate immediately and in this way I managed to discourage everyone behind me. This strategy worked well and gave an immediate good result, it was like having wings on my feet. But the race was not simple and there were also some problems: on the third lap I even punctured a wheel, which also cost me some energy, but in the end I won as I had imagined".