The Cyclocross World Cup has concluded, and Mathieu van der Poel, winning 8 out of 12 races, has secured yet another success. Yesterday, the Dutchman also reached another milestone: he broke Sven Nys's record of victories.

Indeed, by obtaining his 51st World Cup victory in Hoogerheide yesterday, he surpassed Sven Nys's record of 50 victories, which he had already matched in Saturday's race. The world champion is in perfect form ahead of next week's World Championships in Hulst, Netherlands, a condition achieved through weeks of training in Spain.

"Interval training especially helped me progress," Van der Poel said. "I didn't expect to gain such a significant advantage. I always rode at my own pace. The goal was to maintain good sensations and try to pedal as focused as possible for an hour."

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider participated in 12 races this season, of which 8 were World Cup stages: all won. "It's fantastic to have achieved 51 World Cup victories and beat Sven's record. I'm truly proud because he's a rider I always followed when he was racing."

Hoogerheide closed an important phase of the Dutchman's winter season, and now he's ready for the world championship, where he'll race to win his eighth title and surpass the record of 7 titles he currently shares with Eric De Vlaeminck.

"I worked well during the training camp in Spain. Interval training especially helped me progress. I wanted to do something slightly different in terms of training and improve my preparation from last year. So I feel much better compared to the first part of the cyclocross season. I know anything can happen at the Hulst World Championships: I can't wait to race and I'm very happy with my form."

Mathieu van der Poel has also started looking towards the road season and it's increasingly likely that his first race will be the Omloop Nieuwsblad, which will be held on February 28th.

"The Omloop Nieuwsblad is still a question mark. I want to take the right time and will decide the week before the race. First, let's see how I recover from rest after this World Championship."

Van der Poel probably doesn't want to commit too much because this would be his absolute first time at the race that opens the Belgian season. The Omloop Nieuwsblad is simply a gap in his palmares and this year he might decide to participate to win. "Since I want to give my all at the Cyclocross World Championships, I always take a week of rest the following week, and then the Omloop comes just a few days after. But maybe I'll try this year and who knows, I'll fill this gap."