Cycling news - Van der Poel and Brand win latest Cyclo-Cross World Cup races

ByCarrie Dunn

Published 26/12/2019 at 16:36 GMT

Mathieu van der Poel of Corendon-Circus was the winner of the men's UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup race in Heusden-Zolder.

Mathieu van der Poel - 2019 Druivencross di Overijse - Getty Images

Image credit: Getty Images

He led for much of the race, building up a healthy advantage to give himself a comfortable final lap.

Belgium's Laurens Sweeck won a sprint with compatriot Quinten HErmans for second place.

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Elsewhere, Daan Soete crashed on the start-finish straight midway through the race and was forced to retire with a suspected broken collarbone.

Toon Aerts stays top of the standings, ahead of four other Belgians - Michael Vanthourenhout, Eli Iserbyt, Sweeck and Hermans. Aerts crashed early on and had to restart dead last, working his way through the pack with broken ribs incurred in another incident at the weekend.

In the women's race it was a Dutch top five, with Lucinda Brand taking the victory ahead of Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Annemarie Worst, Marianne Vos and Inge van der Heijden.

Those five women fought out a close finish over the final two laps, with Brand edging a sprint finish.

Cyclo-Cross