photo credits @ UCI
UCI World Champion Sanne Cant (Beobank-Corendon) and Dutch ace Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) took honours on a fast and technical course in Waterloo (USA).
Like last week in Iowa City, the Elite Men’s race was a one-man show from Mathieu van der Poel. The UCI World Cup leader outclassed his rivals from the start, displaying power, technical skills and stamina in each of the nine laps. Behind Van der Poel, his compatriot Corné van Kessel (Telenet Fidea Lions) rode a well-composed race in the first chase group of four riders, surging forward in the final lap to win the sprint for second place from his young teammate Daan Soete. After a difficult start, UCI World Champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) fought back to finish seventh. Van der Poel strengthens his lead in the UCI World Cup standings, followed by Marlux Napoleon Games duo Michael Vanthourenhout and Kevin Pauwels.
In the women’s race, UCI World Champion Sanne Cant didn’t have a great start, but in the third of five laps moved to the front when co-leaders Katerina Nash (CLIF Pro Team), Kaitlin Keough and US Champion Katherine Compton crashed. Cant found a good rhythm and rode away in the closing laps. Behind her, Keough made a strong comeback to capture second, while young Ellen Noble (Aspire Racing) won the sprint for third place from last year’s World Cup winner Sophie de Boer (Parkhotel Valkenburg-Destil Cycling Team). Cant takes over the World Cup lead from Nash, who finished sixth in Waterloo.
Emma White was again the best U23-rider, finishing eighth place in Waterloo.
Dutch rider Corné van Kessel (26) has been a regular top-10 finisher in UCI World Cup races since entering the Elite Men category for the 2013-2014 season. His first World Cup podiums came the following season with third place in Valkenburg and Heusden-Zolder, and third in the overall standings at the end of the season. Fifth at last year’s UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, he collected his best-ever World Cup result at the weekend with second place behind fellow Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel.
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