Mathieu van der Poel spits at fans amid boos as he continues cyclo-cross domination in Hulst, Puck Pieterse victorious

Mathieu van der Poel recorded his seventh successive victory of the cyclo-cross season, triumphing at the World Cup event in the Dutch city of Hulst.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider launched an unchallenged attack on the third lap of the race, while a number of his main rivals struggled to stay on their bikes on the bumpy and muddy course.

Olympic and world mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock found himself at the bottom of an early pile-up, before Wout van Aert slid out on an off-camber.

Van der Poel was at the back of the leading group at the start of the second lap, with Laurens Sweeck at the front. He took his chance on the third lap, eventually crossing the finish line with a comfortable 12-second lead.

It was an all-Dutch podium, with Joris Nieuwenhuis and Lars van der Haar placing second and third respectively. Van Aert managed to recover to finish fifth, while Pidcock was back in 25th.

“I was in the wheel [before attacking], but I kept making too many mistakes, because I couldn’t see the good lines. Then I went to the front to do my own pace.”

Van de Poel’s victory was not without controversy. The reigning cyclo-cross world champion was filmed spitting at spectators during his final lap, later claiming it was because he had been booed by the crowd.

“Even during the warm-up,” he said. “I’ve had enough of those boos.”

When asked why he was being booed, Van de Poel replied: “It’s better to ask them yourself. I’m not going to repeat that. They weren’t things that belong in the sport, boos don’t belong to anyone.”

Earlier in the day, Puck Pieterse took her third consecutive victory in the women’s race.

The Fenix-Deceuninck rider looked set to triumph with ease, but Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Lucinda Brand caught up in the penultimate lap to make it a thrilling encounter.

Pieterse eventually beat Alvarado by six seconds, while Brand was 12 seconds off the leader to place third.

“The whole race I had a bit of a lead between 10-20 seconds and then in the last lap I knew Ceylin and Lucinda would be battling really hard and that 15 seconds isn’t much to catch on one lap,” said Pieterse.

“On an off-cambered section, I made a tiny mistake and came to a standstill and I saw all my seconds that I had in front disappear unfortunately.

“But I knew the part after the big steep climb was my part, a bit of turning, a bit of sprinting so I had big self-confidence that I could finish it off.”

World champion Fem van Empel, who has been dominant for much of the season, crashed on the third lap at the bottom of the descent. She managed to recover lost ground to finish fourth behind her Dutch compatriots.