“F*** you!” Cyclocross star squares up to British champion in heated exchange after mid-race crash, gets fined + more on the live blog
“F*** you!” Cyclocross star Michael Vanthourenhout squares up to Cameron Mason in heated exchange after mid-race crash and gets fined, as British champion gives Belgian a taste of his “own medicine”
Temperatures may be plummeting in Belgium, but things were getting heated last night at the cyclocross, where British champion Cameron Mason was involved in a bit of afters with a fuming Michael Vanthourenhout.
Mason first roused Vanthourenhout’s ire with just over two laps to go at Thursday’s Superprestige in Middelkerke, when the two riders battled for position in the leading group of seven. On a tight left-hand bend, Mason attempted to undertake his Belgian rival on the inside.
Vanthourenhout, a winner of four ‘cross races already this season, wasn’t having any of it, however, and stuck his shoulder into the British champion as he passed. Unfortunately for Vanthourenhout, that show of force only succeeded to put himself off balance and cause him to slide out, sending him to the back of the group.
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The two-time European champion did at least manage to recover and challenge for the victory, but was forced to settle for second behind Joran Wyseure. And, judging by his reaction at the finish, he clearly wasn’t happy about it.
Seconds after they crossed the line, Vanthourenhout squared up to Mason (who, in fairness, gave as good as he got), very briefly putting his hands on the Brit, while shouting: “You came up the inside. F*** you!”
hello whats going on https://t.co/bUwM0Xx2jm
— jokslxm ᯣ_ᯣ (@jokslxm) November 5, 2026
It isn’t cyclocross without a spot of argy-bargy, is it?
Nevertheless, the commissaires weren’t too pleased with Vanthourenhout’s public display of frustration and promptly slapped him with a fine of 250 Swiss Francs.
When asked about the confrontation after the race, the big Belgian wasn’t too fussed, it seems.
“That was in the heat of the battle,” he told the TV reporter. “I don’t think he should have passed on the inside just before the small climb, but it is a manoeuvre that is allowed.
“I lost my balance, suddenly found myself in sixth place, and then it is difficult to move up. So it did play a role in the result, but that is part of racing. I kept giving it my all.
“Something like that happens in the moment of the race. You know your race is over when you go down there. I am disappointed, but also happy with the podium.”
Meanwhile Mason, who finished fourth in the end, didn’t hold back on Instagram last night, the 26-year-old posting a story with the caption: “Something something, ‘own medicine’, something, something”:
The friendly duo’s next, ahem, encounter will be on Sunday at the European championships in Zeddam (with its monstrous 100-step staircase). Could be a fun one…
How to stop motorists parking on the bike lane, Camden edition
Lots of lovely new boulders in Camden, London.
— Paul Allen (@marsflyerpaul.bsky.social) November 5, 2026 at 8:53 PM
I imagine those are a touch more effective than a few plants…
> “Disaster” as lorry driver gets stuck in cycle lane planters… on first day of new ‘rain garden’
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In the longer clip of the incident - shown at end of that instagram - you can see Van Thourenhout is the one that moves in on Cam. You can see the Corendon rider ahead was on Van Thourenhout's original line and he had no problem making the corner. A problem completely of Michael's own making.
The problem is neither traffic nor one's perception of danger, it's people. People are lazy, we're hard wired to save energy because our bodies expect to live in a world in which calories are scarce and/or the product of physical labour. That's why people will drive half a mile to do shopping but it's not the world in which most of us now live. Politicians need to sell the benefits of health while making private car use the more difficult, costly or time consuming travel option. But of course there's presently more money in promotion of the infernal combustion engine.
Politicians wont go on national media to complain about the scourge of cars and vans parked all over pavements though.
@Rendel Harris There are several issues converging in cycle infra "debates" in the UK, the fundamental one being we don't recognise cycling as a transport mode. So even where space is found cycle lanes are ignored by drivers (and are built in a way that makes this inevitable). Cycle paths - the better solution in many places - are currently ignored by pedestrians in the UK. Partly out of unfamiliarity, partly due to demand (fighting over scraps), mostly due to low numbers of cyclists. The difficult "truth" is that - like walking in the road is made undesirable by the implicit threat (and actual complaints from) drivers - something similar is likely required for cycle paths to work. The flip side is the "carrot" of more space for pedestrians and not having to share (because it becomes easier - so "natural" - to use your "own" space). A virtuous circle can develop of many current pedestrians and some drivers choosing to cycle, making more space for those on foot. Lots of this elsewhere has ultimately been fixed at the level of "network" rather than "per street" eg. looking at wider areas (maybe a whole town). And doing "wild" things like taking entire lanes from motor traffic, perhaps making some routes one-way only etc. But which some posters here have pointed out may well come with things unpopular with all like *more* road building to create a ring to divert through traffic around a place. Which may precipitate further development around that, necessitating an outer outer ring...
@Rendel Harris yep - while "obstructing the highway" is a crime (now a more serious one thanks to protest, and somehow is very rarely applied to motor vehicles on the cycle path / footway...) pedestrians are allowed to "share the road" most places. But just try exercising your right! We don't suggest that cars and trains share space obviously. (Don't start with "bus lanes"...) Neither motorists nor pedestrians want cyclists "in their space" and point at the other space. Or maybe "cycle lanes", which aren't liked by most current cyclists and won't be used by "might be" cyclists, aside from being ignored by drivers. So then it becomes "fighting over scraps" - as usually it's pedestrians who have to compromise. "Streets too narrow" to take from motoring - although very often there are at least 3 lanes-worth of space, once you notice the parking.
@georgeupstairs@yahoo.co.uk Goodness knows I like a bit of pedantry but describing it as a 4% difference is quite correct, as is (almost) describing it as a 25% difference, one is an absolute difference and one is a relative difference. No error. Your sums actually aren't quite right because 24% is 20% higher than 20%, not 25%.
@Steelisreel that’s a bit harsh. Plenty of UK companies get frames made in Asia to their spec, that’s about the only way that is economical, and they are pretty up front about it. But the company is UK based, has a small workshop in the South East (attached to a very good cafe), and employs actual people.
@Mmitb Pedestrians already have their own segregated infrastructure to use, they're called pavements. And if you try and take even a couple of feet away from them to put in a cycle lane, listen for the complaints.
@stulemanski Or to put it in less pejorative terms rather than trying to make active travel activists sound like spoiled children, they are upset about the fact that a golden opportunity to introduce more than a kilometre of completely off-road cycle track through the heart of London has been missed, an opportunity that could easily have been taken up on a 25 m wide highway. It may be "really easy to avoid with minimal inconvenience" for you, and it is for me to be fair, but cycle infrastructure isn't primarily designed for fast, experienced and confident cyclists but to encourage those with less confidence and experience to take up cycling; a cycle lane down Oxford Street would have served this cohort very well. So the objections, whether you agree with them or not, are well-founded, not mere petulance because "pedestrians have been given something and they've not".
All the side streets where I live are blocked by cars parked on either side of the road so that they are too narrow to cycle in if there is a car or van coming the other way. It makes it really difficult and dangerous to cycle on my local roads. I used to cycle to the shops but now I walk because I could no longer face the regular unyielding motorists when I was already in sections too narrow for them to enter. How is this any different to Lime bikes blocking street corners?
1 thought on ““F*** you!” Cyclocross star squares up to British champion in heated exchange after mid-race crash, gets fined + more on the live blog”
In the longer clip of the incident – shown at end of that instagram – you can see Van Thourenhout is the one that moves in on Cam. You can see the Corendon rider ahead was on Van Thourenhout’s original line and he had no problem making the corner.
A problem completely of Michael’s own making.