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Another van der Poel triumph in Nommay round of ‘cross World Cup

Canadian champ Michael van den Ham churns through the French mud

January 21, 2018
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Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands) nailed down the 2017-2018 UCI cyclocross elite men’s World Cup title on Sunday with another thrashing of his rivals in Round 8 at Nommay, France.

Van der Poel had won five out of the first seven World Cups, although his Belgian rival and world champion Wout Van Aert had prevailed in two of the last three. National champion Michael van den Ham was the sole Canadian entrant, his first World Cup since his 29th place at the Waterloo, Wisconsin round in September.

Van der Poel, Van Aert and Toon Aerts (Belgium) led up the staircase. Tim Merlier (Belgium) was also up in the action. Van Aert took an early bike change. Laurens Sweeck (Belgium) and Corne van Kessel (The Netherlands) joined the elite group out front.

When there was a mass pitting, van der Poel overshot his crew and had to reverse to pick up a bike. Thus, Van Aert finished Lap 1 a couple of seconds ahead of Aerts and 10-seconds faster than van der Poel. Van den Ham was far down the field.


On Lap 2, van der Poel churned through the mud and threaded through the field. Midway through the lap the Dutchman and Aerts found Van Aert’s wheel after the world champion made a mistake on the planks. After two laps, van der Poel and Aert were 12-seconds ahead of Aerts and Sweeck.

In a strange incident, Frenchman Francis Mourey was prone for a couple of minutes as he had to get his foot extracted from between his wheel and frame. Thankfully, mechanics freed him by cutting the spokes and Mourey was able to take a fresh bike to continue.


On Lap 3 of nine, Van der Poel took advantage of a Van Aert mistake on a hill to force a gap. Aerts, on the podium three times this World Cup season, and Sweeck, stepping on the podium twice this season, continued to battle for the final step. Van den Ham moved up a couple of positions.

Van der Poel enjoyed a 12-second gap after four laps. Aerts shed Sweeck. Van der Poel started lapping riders on the fifth circuit, the mud on the course now a peanut butter quagmire. The leading Dutchman kept pushing out his advantage in the latter half of the race. When van der Poel took the bell, he led by 43-seconds. On the last lap he entertained the crowd by cleaning hills he might have ran up earlier in the race.


A nice moment came just after the finish line.


Van den Ham finished in 43rd.

2017-2018 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Round 8, Nommay, France, Elite Men
1) Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands/Corendon-Circus) 1:06:56
2) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Crelan-Charles) +0:33
3) Toon Aerts (Belgium/Telenet Fidea Lions) +2:09
43) Michael van den Ham (Canada/Garneau-Easton)