Mathieu van der Poel is the lord and master of cyclocross and today he won his fiftieth World Cup victory in Maasmechelen, equaling record holder Sven Nys.

This is also his seventh World Cup victory this season, and the world champion remains unbeaten. Despite two punctures that made life difficult for the world champion, the victory was still his.

"It was really fantastic even though I had to work hard. When I started racing, I greatly admired Sven Nys and never thought I would reach this result. It's fantastic".

Among the many records, it should also be noted that the victory in Maasmechelen is the eleventh seasonal victory for the Dutchman, who in a few days will also go hunting for the new world title. "I already knew it would be tough today. But it certainly was even more so because of my two punctures, both right after the pit stops. Not losing ground required a lot of energy, but fortunately I managed to recover. It's known that there are many rocks here, so I certainly wasn't the only one to have a flat tire".

After his first puncture, Van der Poel was almost half a minute behind Del Grosso, but with great skill he managed to stay in contention. "I knew I was feeling good, so I tried to close the gap at my own pace and be careful. Then I finally recovered some margin, but then I punctured again. It wasn't a race without difficulties. Today's work is a good incentive for the World Championship. I managed to do everything I wanted, so I'm happy".