OPENINGBenidorm's Costa Blanca circuit — fast, dry, dusty and punchy rather than the deep mud of the Belgian rounds — favoured raw power, and the world champion had it. Van der Poel slipped slightly off the line and let Tibor Del Grosso take the holeshot, but the race turned on the first pass over the hurdles: Toon Aerts crashed on Van der Poel's wheel and briefly blocked the chasers, handing Van der Poel and Del Grosso an instant gap.

UNFOLDSVan der Poel needed no second invitation. He accelerated away at the end of the opening lap and was never seen again by the front of the race. By the end of lap two a reshuffled chase group — Nys, Nieuwenhuis, Vandeputte, Hendrikx, Orts, Aerts, Del Grosso and others — sat around 30 seconds adrift and made no real impression. Nieuwenhuis tried a dig on lap three, the group swelled again as the mid-race pace eased, and Nys even swapped bikes in a lull, but the leader's margin held comfortably.

DECIDEDThe win was decided by the lap-one move; the only live contest was for the minor podium steps. On lap five Spanish champion Felipe Orts attacked in front of his home crowd and opened a small gap, with Nys bridging across. The pair briefly trimmed about seven seconds from Van der Poel's lead but were never a threat to the win.

FINALEOn the final lap Nys accelerated and dropped Orts, who made a mistake at the worst moment, to take second at +0:28. Orts recovered to hold third at +0:32 and celebrate a podium on home soil. Van der Poel crossed alone in 1h 01m 04s — his sixth World Cup round victory of the campaign and the result that sealed the overall series title.