Loenhout sits at the heart of the Belgian festive cyclo-cross block, and the Azencross rarely allows riders to hide. The crowds press in, the pace rarely drops, and even on dry ground the circuit asks constant questions. On Monday 29 December 2025, those questions were answered in different ways across the men’s and women’s races, but both followed the same underlying logic: hesitation was punished, commitment rewarded.
In the men’s race, Mathieu van der Poel turned an early duel with Wout van Aert into another solo victory after punctures derailed his rival’s challenge. In the women’s event, Lucinda Brand was finally forced to dig deep, shaking off Kristýna Zemanová only in the closing stages of a tense, tactical contest.
Men’s race: Van der Poel capitalises as Van Aert’s challenge unravels
The early laps of the men’s Azencross hinted at the battle many had hoped for. Despite modest starts, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert worked their way to the front quickly, and once there, the rhythm of the race changed instantly. Lap times dropped, the crowd noise rose, and the familiar sense of a duel began to build.
Van Aert was proactive rather than reactive. He rode aggressively on the front, testing Van der Poel’s response and briefly giving the impression that he might be able to stretch the world champion on a circuit that rewarded sustained power more than explosive accelerations. For a moment, the race looked delicately balanced.
That balance disappeared on the fourth lap.
A rear puncture forced Van Aert into a long, costly trip to the pits. He lost around half a minute, rejoined amid the chasing group, and had to burn energy just to re-establish himself near the front. To his credit, he did exactly that, riding clear of the chasers and briefly restoring the sense of pursuit. But the damage had been done, and worse was still to come.
On the sixth lap, Van Aert punctured again, remarkably on the same rock. The second bike change ended any remaining hope of contesting the victory, and what might have been a genuine battle became a test of resilience instead. Van Aert eventually finished well down the order, later admitting his frustration at how quickly the race had slipped away.
“I believed I could turn it into a battle,” he said afterwards. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. That’s a shame.”
Out front, Van der Poel needed no second invitation. Once he sensed that the pressure from behind had eased, he raised the tempo just enough to make the gap definitive. There was no need for theatrics or all-in attacks. He simply rode the cleanest lines, avoided mistakes, and let the clock do the rest.
Behind him, the race for the remaining podium places played out between riders who had never truly been allowed into the fight for victory. Van der Poel crossed the line alone for his sixth win of the season, reinforcing a sense of inevitability whenever he lines up in these conditions.
X2O Trofee Loenhout Azencross 2025 Men result
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Photo Credit: GettyWomen’s race: Brand tested to the limit by Zemanová on a fast circuit
The women’s race unfolded very differently. Where the men’s event was shaped by misfortune, the women’s contest was defined by control, patience, and resistance.
Lucinda Brand arrived in Loenhout as the overwhelming favourite, but the course did not play neatly into her usual strengths. The dry, fast surface limited her ability to ride clear early, and the density of corners made it difficult to turn power into separation. From the opening laps, it was clear this would not be another procession.
Kristýna Zemanová set the tone. The Czech champion rode assertively from the start, taking responsibility at the front and repeatedly testing the group. Brand initially chose restraint, watching rather than reacting, aware that premature moves on this circuit could easily backfire.
As the race developed, a select group began to form. Zemanová remained central to it, while Manon Bakker and Marion Norbert Riberolle hovered within striking distance. Zoe Bäckstedt, racing just her second cyclo-cross of the season, also remained impressively involved deep into the race, a reflection of how compressed the front of the field remained.
Brand’s first real acceleration came only after more than 20 minutes of racing. It was sharp enough to stretch the group, but not decisive. Zemanová responded, and rather than breaking, she appeared to grow into the contest. Each time Brand lifted the pace, the Czech rider found a way to hold the wheel, forcing the favourite to rethink her approach.
“It was difficult to make a difference here,” Brand admitted afterwards. “There were a lot of corners and it was quite slippery. I couldn’t really use my power.”
The decisive phase came late. Brand increased the pressure through repetition rather than one single move, gradually chipping away at Zemanová’s resistance. The gap opened slowly, almost reluctantly, but once it appeared, it grew metre by metre. Zemanová fought hard, refusing to let go immediately, but the elastic finally snapped in the closing lap.
Brand crossed the line having been pushed harder than at almost any point this winter, securing another victory but without the air of inevitability that has surrounded much of her season. Zemanová took a deserved second, Bakker completed the podium, and Bäckstedt’s fourth place underlined her rapid progression after a difficult return the day before in Dendermonde.
“It’s also nice sometimes, a race like this,” Brand reflected. “But today, it was really hard to find where you could make the difference.”
X2O Trofee Loenhout Azencross 2025 Women result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
