Maasmechelen’s World Cup weekend delivered exactly what the course tends to produce: fast laps, constant changes of rhythm, and races decided as much by timing and risk management as by outright power. With Hulst a week away, it was also a rare moment where form could be shown without anyone needing to show everything.
Puck Pieterse and Mathieu van der Poel both won from the front, but neither had a straightforward ride to the line. Pieterse had to absorb a late chase from her own teammate after Amandine Fouquenet’s puncture reshaped the finale, while Van der Poel overcame two punctures of his own and still found the acceleration to separate from a strong chasing group.
Women’s race: Pieterse exploits Fouquenet’s puncture to seal a six-lap solo win
The women’s elite race was set up as a technical test ridden at full speed from the gun, with dry conditions encouraging ambitious lines and punishing even minor errors. Early on, Amandine Fouquenet and her teammate Leonie Bentveld applied the pressure, and Pieterse matched it immediately, choosing to race from the front where the best lines were available.
That decision quickly drew a line under who could realistically win. Lucinda Brand, usually a fixture at the pointy end, suffered an early mistake in the sand and never truly reconnected to the fight, slipping into a race of damage limitation rather than control.
The third lap creates separation, then demands perfection
Pieterse opened the first meaningful gap on lap three, but the track refused to let it settle. Small errors allowed Fouquenet to regain contact, and a chasing duo of Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Sara Casasola began to compress the race from behind. What had briefly looked like a clean solo move turned into a fragile lead that needed constant reinforcement.
The dynamic mattered because it changed Pieterse’s task. She could not simply ride a strong tempo and watch the seconds grow. She had to choose where to take risk, where to stay composed, and how to avoid the type of mistake that would invite a full regrouping.
The puncture that turns the finale into a decision
The pivotal moment arrived towards the end of lap five when Fouquenet punctured and was forced into the pits. In cyclo-cross, that is not just bad luck, it is a time cost that arrives at the worst possible moment, when legs are already near the limit and the final lap is looming.
Pieterse reacted immediately, later explaining that once she saw the puncture, she passed and went straight into her move. It was a cold, correct read: the opportunity was real, and waiting would only invite Alvarado to close further.
Alvarado’s chase sharpens the final lap without changing the winner
Alvarado’s closing effort was the clearest threat after Fouquenet’s stop. She reduced the gap to something Pieterse could not ignore and forced the leader to keep riding the technical sections at full commitment, even with the finish in sight.
The chase also carried a subtle team tension. Alvarado suggested afterwards she might have been able to bring Pieterse back, but with Fouquenet still a threat after her change, the calculus was never as simple as one teammate attacking another. The result was a chase that was relentless, but not quite reckless.
Brand’s tenth ends a long podium run on an inconvenient day
Brand finished 10th and, in doing so, brought an extraordinary podium streak to an end. With Hulst close, her camp framed the performance in the context of preparation and a demanding training block, but Maasmechelen still offered a reminder that this course has very little mercy when you lose contact early.
Brand herself had pointed out beforehand how hard it can be to regain the front once you miss a connection on the tricky sections. That prediction proved accurate in race conditions.
Photo Credit: Getty2026 Women’s UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Maasmechelen result
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Men’s race: Van der Poel’s double puncture still ends in a record-matching 50th World Cup win
The men’s elite race followed the same Maasmechelen pattern, but at a different intensity: a high-speed, technical contest where the pit lane can become a tactical element rather than a safety net. Van der Poel looked set for another controlled day once he moved to the front on lap three, taking over from teammate Tibor Del Grosso and beginning to apply his familiar pressure.
Then the race broke open in a different way. A front puncture on the following lap, far from the pits, cost him roughly 20 seconds and briefly turned the day into something closer to a chase than a display.
A regrouping that becomes a launchpad
Van der Poel’s response was telling. He did not simply ride back to the front, he rode back by taking risk, choosing sharper lines and forcing the pace until he reached Del Grosso again. A group of four formed with Thibau Nys and Niels Vandeputte also present, creating a moment where the race could have become tactical if Van der Poel had allowed it.
He did not. On lap seven, he attacked again, rode clear, and quickly rebuilt a double-digit advantage, reasserting the race logic he prefers: ride fast enough that no one has time to negotiate.
Photo Credit: Cor VosAnother puncture, but the damage is smaller this time
A second puncture, this time at the rear on the penultimate lap, threatened to repeat the story, but the timing and the response were different. The bike change was quicker, the gap was already established, and Van der Poel was able to “steady the ship” and protect what he had built rather than having to restart from scratch.
Afterwards he described it as more costly than expected, not in panic about the time gap, but in the energy required to close it and the risk of another flat. It was an unusually direct glimpse into the calculation behind the dominance.
A win that is still comfortable, even when it is not easy
Van der Poel entered the final lap with a slender but workable margin and rode it like a rider managing risk rather than searching for spectacle. Del Grosso and the chasers never fully closed the door, but they also never found the moment where the gap looked truly reversible.
The victory was his 50th career World Cup win, matching the record held by Sven Nys, and setting up a clear narrative for the next round at Hoogerheide. The performance itself was the more relevant detail: even when punctures forced him into problem-solving mode, he still had the speed and composure to make the race his own.
2026 Men’s UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Maasmechelen result
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