– What happened –
The fourth round of the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was set to take place in the sand dunes of Koksijde, Belgium. 175 riders from 16 nations were scheduled to take the start on Sunday 20th November. Foul weather circumstances forced the UCI and the organisers to change their plans. Due to the heavy storm, passing over Koksijde and the rest of Belgium, the decision has been taken to cancel the round. The organisation committee, the city of Koksijde, the UCI and the security services agreed on this decision as the security of the riders, volunteers and the public could not be assured.
As a result, the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup standings remain the same. Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice) tops the Elite Men ranking. Sophie de Boer (Kalas-NNOF) leads the Women Elite one. Gioele Bertolini (Italy) remains leader in the Men Under-23 category. Yentl Bekaert (Belgium) is leading in the Men Junior category.
– What’s next –
UCI World Cup round 5: Zeven, Germany, on Saturday 26th November for categories Men Elite, Women, Men Under 23 and Men Juniors.
– What you should know about… Zeven –
It’s the first time the town in the Elbe-Weser triangle features in the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. In fact, it’s been more than 10 years since the UCI hosted a World Cup round on German soil. The course at the ‘Hinter der Ahe’ forest features lots of flat grass sections with U-turns, small dams and a short climb near the lake. Former UCI World Champion Hanka Kupfernagel said the course will be very exhausting when it’s wet and thus muddy. When it’s dry, it’ll be extremely fast.
– Focus on Mathieu van der Poel –
Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) was the UCI’s youngest-ever Elite Men Cyclo-cross World Champion in 2015. Despite still only being 21 years old Van der Poel is one of the best cyclo-cross riders in the world. He also won the Junior Men Road World Championships back in 2013, proving he’s also got loads of potential on the road. Knee problems have hindered him at the start of the current and previous seasons, forcing him to miss the first few Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cuprounds each time. He’s currently second place in the UCI rankings behind World champion Wout Van Aert. He’ll be the man to watch in Zeven, Germany as he’s won all five of the World Cup rounds he participated in since Namur, back in December 2015.
Key results 1st Elite Men Cyclo-cross World championships (2015) 1st Junior Men Road World championships (2013) 1st Junior Men Cyclo-cross World championships (2012 & 2013) 5th Elite Men World championships (2016) 1st World Cup Hoogerheide (2015 & 2016) 1st World Cup Namur (2015) 1st World Cup Heusden-Zolder (2015) 1st World Cup Lignières-en-Berry (2016) 1st World Cup Valkenburg (2016) 1st Dutch championships (2015 & 2016) 3rd World championships (2012 & 2016) 2nd World championships (2015) 1st World Cup Lignières-en-Berry (2016) 1st World Cup Koksijde (2014 & 2015) 1st World Cup Milton Keynes (2014) 1st World Cup Zolder (2015)
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