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Even though he did not win the big one, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) has won a lot of cyclocross races this season. He won the World Cup, DVV Trofee and Superprestige overall series and came into Sunday’s Vestingcross Hulst with 29 victories for the season.

Van der Poel Wins 30th

On Sunday, Van der Poel did what he has done best this season: win. He took top honors at Vestingcross Hulst in his home country to win his 30th race of the season. Laurens Sweeck (ERA-Circus) took second and Tom Meeusen (Corendon-Circus) third.

Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz / Donkey Label Racing) finished 29th, Eric Thompson (MSpeedwax.com) 36th and Tyler Cloutier (Matrix Cycling Club) 48th.

Van der Poel’s run of dominance has been mesmerizing and having a round number to attach to it helps tell the story of a season of greatness.

Some other metrics:

Of the 36 races Van der Poel has entered this year, he has won 30 of them.

His worst finish? Fourth.

The races he did not win? Ronse, Boom, Gavere, Zeven, Namur and Worlds.

Van der Poel’s crossresults.com page?  He has no nemeses, he went 21-5 against Van Aert his season, holds a 24-1 record against Michael Vanthourenout, who beat him for second at Worlds and has 188 upgrade points in the last year. The only top European rider without a flaming couch from Van der Poel is Van Aert.

The all-time record? Van der Poel’s 30th ties him with Sven Nys, who won 30 races in the 2006/07 campaign and leaves him two behind Roland Liboton, who won 32 of 33 races during the 1983/84 season. With only one race left next Sunday in Oostmalle, Van der Poel’s third at Worlds acquires a little insult to go with the injury since even with a win, he will come up one short of Liboton’s record.

Laura Verdonschot Wins First

While Van der Poel has been flying high, literally and figuratively, young Belgian star Laura Verdonschot (Marlux-Bingoal) has had a tough year. Verdonschot entered last year’s U23 World Championships in Bieles as a podium favorite, but finished a disappointing fourth. She entered this season hoping to build on results such as her fifth at the 2017 Hoogerheide World Cup and second at last year’s season finale in Oostmalle.

However, 2017/18 success has been tough to come by for the young rider. She has had to work to get top tens in Elite races for much of the season and finished well off the podium in tenth at the 2018 U23 World Championships in Valkenburg-Limuburg.

Since her disappointing day on the Cauberg, Verdonschot has gotten some nice results to build on heading into the offseason. She podiumed at Parkcross Malgedem and again on Saturday at Superprestige Middelkerke.

On Sunday at Hulst, Verdonschot put everything together and took the win in the Elite Women’s race. She beat out Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions) and fellow young star Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Corendon-Circus). Sanne Cant (IKO-Beobank) finished ninth after winning on Saturday in Middelkerke.

Elle Anderson (Milwaukee – Alpha Motorhomes) finished 6th, Rebecca Fahringer (Stan’s NoTubes p/b Maxxis/gofahr) 16th and Corey Coogan Cisek (The Fix Studio) 29th.

Full results from the Women’s and Men’s races are below.

The 2017/18 UCI cyclocross calendar concludes on Sunday at the Internationale Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle.

Women's Results: 2018 Brico Cross Hulst

RankBIBLast NameFirst NameCountryResult
16VERDONSCHOTLauraBEL0:45:20
24VAN LOYEllenBEL0:45:35
310DEL CARMEN ALVARADOCeylinNED0:45:56
43KAPTHEIJNSMaudNED0:46:08
55SELSLoesBEL0:46:19
612ANDERSONElleUSA0:46:53
714BAKKERManonNED0:47:07
825VAN DER HEIJDENIngeNED0:47:23
91CANTSanneBEL0:47:32
1022FRANCKAliciaBEL0:47:43
1130VANDERBEKENJoyceBEL0:48:01
1213ARZUFFIAlice MariaITA0:48:01
1343NAGENGASTFleurNED0:48:17
1442VAN DE STEENEKimBEL0:48:17
1532VERHESTRAETENKarenBEL0:49:30
1621FAHRINGERRebeccaUSA0:49:48
1718VAN DER BURGEstherNED0:50:06
189VAN ANROOIJLindyNED0:50:20
1928MULDERMaschaNED0:51:05
2039GOOSSENSVeerleNED0:51:33
2123GERRITSENIreneNED0:51:40
2216BOSCHKERJuliaNED0:51:44
2340PEETERSJinseBEL0:51:50
247VERSCHUERENJolienBEL0:51:50
2533VOSMarliesNED0:52:10
2635DE VRIESDidiNED0:54:04
2741VAN DE PUTTEKimBEL2 Laps
2819CLAESSENEllekeNED2 Laps
2911COOGAN CISEKCoreyUSA2 Laps
3037VAN DER ZWAANLauraNED2 Laps
3117DE BRUYNEMegBEL2 Laps
3220EBBINGEIsoldeNED3 Laps
3338BLANCHAERTJoBEL4 Laps
DNF27KLOPPENBURGMargrietDEN
DNF34DE VOSNeleBEL
DNF44JOOSIngeBEL

Men's Results: 2018 Brico Cross Hulst

RankBIBLast NameFirst NameCountryResult
11VAN DER POELMathieuNED0:59:29
254SWEECKLaurensBEL0:59:44
37MEEUSENTomBEL0:59:49
43ISERBYTEliBEL1:00:13
510VANTHOURENHOUTMichaelBEL1:00:22
66VAN DER POELDavidNED1:00:28
74AERTSToonBEL1:00:43
812PAUWELSKevinBEL1:00:57
98MERLIERTimBEL1:01:06
102VAN DER HAARLarsNED1:01:18
1115VAN KESSELCorneNED1:01:38
1216ADAMSJensBEL1:01:44
135AERNOUTSJimBEL1:01:55
1413HERMANSQuintenBEL1:02:03
1526BOROŠMichaelCZE1:02:11
1670ORTS LLORETFelipeESP1:02:23
179VERMEERSCHGianniBEL1:02:48
1845NIEUWENHUISJorisNED1:03:06
1966VANDEBOSCHToonBEL1:03:34
2032GODRIEStanNED1:03:43
2111PIDCOCKThomasGBR1:03:43
2265ŤOUPALÍKAdamCZE1:04:28
2314AERTSThijsBEL1:04:39
2442MERLIERBraamBEL1:04:39
2541MEISENMarcelGER1:04:45
2674BOSMANSWietseBEL1:05:35
2757VANTORNOUTKlaasBEL1:05:37
2872PEETERSYannickBEL1:05:41
2971ORTENBLADTobinUSA1:05:50
3030DRIESENJarneBEL1:05:59
3119BAKXKelvinNED2 Laps
3268VANDEBOSCHVictorBEL2 Laps
3338VAN LEEUWENPatrickNED2 Laps
3433VAN DER HEIJDENMaikNED2 Laps
3560LIESSENSJarnoBEL3 Laps
36ThompsonEricUSA3 Laps
3717VAN AMERONGENThijsNED3 Laps
3829VAN DIJKEKoenNED3 Laps
3940VAN DER MEERGosseNED3 Laps
4034VAN HELVOIRTKoenNED4 Laps
4153VAN DER STEGENRoelNED4 Laps
4243MIJNTENMartinNED4 Laps
4355TIELENDarioBEL5 Laps
4449SCHREUDERCarlosNED5 Laps
4524DE BOCKJelleBEL5 Laps
4639MASTEBROEKLarsNED5 Laps
4725DE BOCKYoniBEL5 Laps
4858CLOUTIERTylerUSA5 Laps
4921BEKAERTSeppeBEL6 Laps
5061OGERVincentBEL6 Laps
5148RUNHAARMarvinNED7 Laps
DNF22VAN BENNEKOMKevinNED
DNF28DEKKERJensNED
DNF46PEETERSDamianNED
DNF47ROMBOUTSSeppeBEL
DNF56VANTHOURENHOUTDieterBEL
DNF67VERMEERSCHFlorianBEL
DNF69ESTEBAN AGUEROIsmaelESP