Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the Hoogerheide UCI World Cup race organised by his father Adri, in yet another show of dominance just a week before the Cyclocross World Championships.
It was seven wins from seven races for Van der Poel this winter, with a seventh world title in France the next goal.
Van der Poel led virtually from start to finish, driving into the first corner and soon distancing his rivals. He opted not to bunny hop the barriers but late in the race he took flight on the ramp and flicked his back wheel, to the delight of the fans.
Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines) was impressive in the thick mud to finish 1:42 down on Van der Poel. He was crowned the World Cup winner after two victories in the 11-race series.
Lars Van der Haar (Baloise Glowi Lions) was third at 1:57 on Sunday.
Van der Poel won his first World Cup race in Hoogerheide 10 years ago when he was just 20. He turned 30 a few days ago and seemed close to his very best, so ready to win a seventh cyclocross World title.
"I hope so. It looks really good at the moment but it's a new race next Sunday," he said with caution. "The World Championships is always something special and I'll fight as hard as I can to get it.
"I feel better now than in the first races. That was different last year. I hope to ride my best race of the season next week."
Van der Poel seemed to race with ease but he pushed himself and his limits.
"It was an incredibly difficult course," he claimed. "It's such a difficult race that you have to ride at your own pace from start to finish, so I just rode well for an hour. It was fun, I enjoyed myself.
"I prefer these conditions than when it's super fast, so I was happy with how I felt, especially after also racing yesterday. I felt I'd recovered well and so I'm happy."
Van der Poel revealed he cracked a rib during the holidays and can still feel some pain but it will not slow him down.
"I still feel it but it'll not slow me down next week. Everything is on schedule and I'm looking forward to it," he concluded.
Van der Poel showed his intentions by leading the uphill surge from the start. He led into the right turn onto the grass and then down the descent into the mud.
Not even the World Champion could ride through the black stuff but was still fastest as he ran with his bike. As soon as he hit the flat ridable sectors, Van der Poel was stronger and faster and began to distance everyone else.
Thibaut Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) was back racing after recent illness but had a poor start and slipped down the field. He climbed off after just two laps, setting off alarm bells in Belgium about his form and chances of a medal at next week's World Championships.
After a lap, Van der Poel was away and had a gap of 19 seconds. The race for victory was already decided.
Vanthourenhout soon emerged as the best of the rest as he raced to overall success in the UCI World Cup standings. He was technically excellent in the mud and so distanced Van der Haar and a chasing pack that raced against each other in mud.
After five of the seven laps, Van der Poel led by 59 seconds, his lap times getting faster and faster in a show of force. His lead was up to 1:34 as the bell rang for the final lap.
He even had time to jump off the ramp and take air in the final two laps, to the delight of the fans watching him dominate. He had time to high five the crowd at the finish and show his muscles as he crossed the line.
Results
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