Mathieu Van der Poel (BKCP-Corendon) won the fifth round of the elite men’s UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Zolder today, nixing Kevin Pauwels by by a narrow margin, while a distant Lars Van Der Haar rounded out the podium in third place.
Unfortunately, for World Cup leader, Wout Van Aert, he could only manage on eight place finish in today’s race. However, it was enough for the young Belgian rider to hold onto his white jersey by 16 points over Van der Haar.
Race Highlights
After a handful of riders tried their luck at the front, it wasn’t until Word Champion Mathieu van der Poel, Kevin Pauwels and Lars van der Haar, managed to ride clear of the field.
From there, the trio succeeded in building up a one minute advantage over the field.
However, an untimely puncture would later befall Van der Haar, while van der Poel seized the opportunity to ride clear.
Despite a valiant attempt by Pauwels to stay onboard with van der Polel, the world champion managed to stay ahead of his Belgian rival and clinch the victory by two seconds.
Top 20 Men Finishers
1 Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP-Corendon 1:09:03 2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Sunweb – Napoleon Games Cycling Team 0:00:02 3 Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:00:46 4 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team 0:01:10 5 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb – Napoleon Games Cycling Team 0:01:11 6 Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:17 7 Tim Merlier (Bel) Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace Continental Team 0:01:20 8 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace Continental Team 9 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team 10 Sven Nys (Bel) Crelan-AA Drink 0:01:21 11 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team 12 Michael Boros (Cze) BKCP-Corendon 0:01:28 13 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era Real Estate – Murprotec 0:01:29 14 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Sunweb – Napoleon Games Cycling Team 0:02:08 15 Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team 0:02:20 16 Jeremy Powers (USA) Aspire 0:02:24 17 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) BKCP-Corendon 0:02:25 18 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb – Napoleon Games Cycling Team 19 Simon Zahner (Swi) 20 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team 0:02:26
photo credit @ Belga
Sanne Cant claimed the fifth round of the elite women’s UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Zolder today, after riding clear of the American rider, Katie Compton, during the final lap – to take a solo victory.
“I don’t know what happened, maybe I didn’t position myself well at there start”, said Cant. “But on the first lap there was a lot of wind and some fell back so I could go to the front. I had a better feeling in the uphill than Katie so I pushed in the last climb and I’m happy that I could win.”
Cant and Compton battled it out for most of today’s race. However, during the final lap, Compton was unable to match the strength of her rival, who managed to create a slight gap during waning moments of the race – to clinch a solo victory by 7 seconds.
Meanwhile, Ellen Van Loy managed to hold-off a late charge from Thalia de Jong, to secure the third spot on the podium.
World Cup leader Eva Lechner got day’s holeshot, while Van Loy remained fast on her wheel.
From there, Van Loy took to the front, subsequently pushing the pace and splitting the main field.
However, it wasn’t long before the fractured field made its way back together, with riders like Cant able to recover from their bad start.
Still, a determined Van Loy once again managed to ride clear, leaving Lechner, Cant and Compton to chase in earnest.
Shortly thereafter, tragedy struck Lechner, when Italian rider went down hard on a downhill corner, effectively ending her shot at the podium.
Soon after, Van Loy began to struggle, as Compton put in a short acceleration that left the Belgian rider unable to respond.
From that point on, Compton and Cant continued to exchange attacks, until Cant delivered a final blow during the last climb, to jettison her rival for the final time.
Today’s victory, was enough for Cant to earn back the lead in the UCI World Cup standings, by a 17-point margin.
Top 20 Women Finishers
1 Sanne Cant (Bel) 0:45:02 2 Katherine Compton (USA) 0:00:07 3 Ellen Van Loy (Bel) 0:00:24 4 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:27 5 Caroline Mani (Fra) 0:00:48 6 Pavla Havlikova (Cze) 0:00:50 7 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Team Liv-Plantur 0:00:52 8 Eva Lechner (Ita) Team Colnago Sudtirol 0:00:53 9 Sophie De Boer (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team 0:00:55 10 Nikki Harris (GBr) 0:01:04 11 Sanne Van Paassen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:01:10 12 Helen Wyman (GBr) Kona Factory Team 0:01:32 13 Chiara Teocchi (Ita) Bianchi I.Idro Drain 0:01:38 14 Loes Sels (Bel) 0:01:43 15 Maud Kaptheijns (Ned) 0:01:52 16 Jolien Verschueren (Bel) 0:02:00 17 Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) 0:02:14 18 Kaitlin Antonneau (USA) Twenty16 – Ridebiker 0:02:21 19 Juliette Labous (Fra) 0:02:26 20 Nikola Noskova (Cze) 0:02:28
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