Cyclo-Cross World Cup 2016 – 9-HOOGERGHEIDE [FULL RACE]

January 22, 2017

Cyclo-Cross World Cup 2016 – Stage 9 – HOOGERGHEIDE – Las Vegas

The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup is a season-long competition in cyclo-cross, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). First held in the 1993–1994 season, there are currently four awards, tailored to the different categories of riders: elite men, U23 men, junior men and elite women.
The World Cup is not to be confused with the World Championship, also organised by the UCI, which is a single one day race that awards the winner with a rainbow jersey to be worn in every race till the next World Championship. Typically the World Championships are held a week or two after the end of the World Cup at the end of January or early February.

One week ahead of the Bieles 2017 UCI World championships, the win at the final Telenet UCI World Cup round of the season was for Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions). The 25-year-old Dutch rider completed a long solo and won ahead of teammates Tom Meeusen and Corné van Kessel.

Last week, world champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) secured the overall win in the World Cup and he opted out of the World Cup final. His arch rival, Dutch champion Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon), had an off day in the race organised by his father Adrie.

For Van der Haar, the win in Hoogerheide came as quite a surprise, knowing he was sidelined by two injuries this season. “Very unexpected,” Van der Haar said in the post-race flash interview with Sporza. “It was special. The last lap I couldn’t stop smiling.”

The fast, frozen course in chilly Hoogerheide provided for a very different race compared to last year’s muddy edition that was won by Mathieu van der Poel. This time around, it was very hard to create gaps. In the absence of Wout Van Aert, Van der Poel took a good start and he seemed in total control of affairs during the opening lap.

In the long line behind Van der Poel, there was a problem for Spanish champion Ismail Esteban Aguando which caused a crash for Pan-American champion Stephen Hyde (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and blocked the path of Van der Haar. The latter ended up riding outside the top 20 and a good result seemed impossible.

The race dynamic turned around when Van der Poel sat up and allowed other riders to take the initiative. Van der Haar started to believe in his chances and rode the fastest second lap of the pace, moving back into the top 10. During the fourth of ten laps, there were still 26 riders riding within ten seconds of each other.

Suddenly, Van der Poel appeared back in front. He briefly got away with French champion Clément Venturini (Cofidis). Van der Haar reacted fiercely and quickly closed the gap on the two leaders at the beginning of the fifth lap. Tom Meeusen bridged up as well and ten other riders were marking his wheel.

Van der Haar took over the command from Van der Poel, who sat up and blocked the other riders on the singletrack path through the forest. Once out of the forest, Van der Haar had a nice gap. His Telenet Fidea Lion teammates were also present in front, causing the pace to drop completely.

Half a lap later, halfway through the race, Van der Haar had a lead of 20 seconds on the first chasers. “I was struggling in the beginning but then I came back in the race. Van der Poel just did a hard lap. I thought, I’ll go in the front and help him, and go on. I think, at that Van der Poel thought, this is ok, let him go. Behind him, were some teammates of mine. It gave me a big gap in a short period of time. Then I was alone,” Van der Haar said.

While Van der Haar started clocking steady lap times in front, there was no organised chase behind him. Van der Poel surely didn’t mind having a compatriot in front and, intentional or not, he faded further back in the group of 23 riders that rode more or less together.

“It wasn’t what I expected. I hoped to go better,” Van der Poel said. “It’s no drama as next week is what matters most. I’m a bit disappointed but prefer it today over next week. After my first acceleration I realised that there was no punch on my move. I started becoming worse and worse. My legs were really feeling the fatigue.

“I tried to finish the race as good as possible but after a while nothing was going right. Technically it wasn’t good either. On a bad day, everything goes bad. The last two years I was always very good here and the week afterwards it was slightly less good. Hopefully it’ll be the other way around this time.”

During the closing laps, Clément Venturini, Corné van Kessel and Tim Merlier (Crelan-Charles) distanced the rest of the group. Meeusen brought everybody back during the eighth lap. When hitting the penultimate lap, 11 riders were left in contention for the final podium spots, trailing leader Van der Haar by nearly a minute.

The same riders hit the final lap with sprinter Merlier and Meeusen leading the way. Merlier slipped away in the forest, blocking the path of Gianni Meersman (Steylaerts-Verona), and both riders lost out on their podium chances. Meeusen, Van Kessel, Venturini and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) survived in front.

Van Kessel and Meeusen passed Venturini and left him behind before hitting the finishing straight. Meeusen then beat Van Kessel in the sprint for second place. Venturini concluded a strong race in fourth place, holding off Kevin Pauwels in the sprint for fourth place. Merlier was fifth ahead of Vermeersch and strong-finishing German champion Marcel Meisen (Steylaerts-Verona). Mathieu van der Poel finished on a distant 24th place at 2:14, just ahead of his brother David.

Van der Haar acknowledged both his trade teammates and his national team in his post-race interview. “The support of my teammates was really nice and it offered me a big gap. Still, it was difficult to hold onto my lead as it was such a fast course. It was cool to see that my teammates also got onto the podium.

“Worlds? I’m good but it’ll be a completely different race. Mathieu? Don’t worry. He trained hard. I believe in Mathieu. We all can,” Van der Haar said.

Van Aert had already clinched the UCI World Cup series with 530 points. Pauwels held onto second at 474 ahead of Tom Meeusen (447). Laurens Sweeck (ERA Real Estate-Circus) was absent due to illness and dropped a spot to fifth place in favour of Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux-Napoleon Games), who finished 23rd in Hoogerheide. Van Kessel is the first non-Belgian rider in sixth place with 345 points. Van der Poel missed the two first rounds of the World Cup and finishes in eighth place. European champion Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions) is out injured after last week’s hard crash in Fiuggi. He drops from sixth to ninth place.

Results :
1 Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 1:03:32
2 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:00:44
3 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:00:45
4 Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:47
5 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games
6 Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 0:00:51
7 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Team Steylaerts 0:00:53
8 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Steylaerts-Verona 0:00:54
9 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
10 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Beobank-Corendon
11 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Odlo Mtb Racing Team 0:00:55
12 Michael Boros (Cze) ERA-Circus 0:00:56
13 Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan-Charlesteam 0:00:57
14 Steve Chainel (Fra) 0:00:58
15 Simon Zahner (Swi) 0:00:59
16 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Beobank-Corendon 0:01:01
17 Marek Konwa (Pol) 0:01:02
18 Daan Soete (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:01:09
19 Diether Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus 0:01:21
20 Jan Nesvadba (Cze) 0:01:31
21 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:01:43
22 Tomas Paprstka (Cze) 0:01:51
23 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:02:12
24 Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon 0:02:14
25 David Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon 0:02:19
26 Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Destil – Jo Piels Cycling Team
27 Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com
28 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) 0:02:20
29 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:02:22
30 Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa) 0:02:24
31 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) 0:02:25
32 Kerry Werner (USA) Kona Endurance Team 0:02:28
33 Anthonin Didier (Fra)
34 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles 0:02:29
35 Nicolas Samparisi (Ita)
36 Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa) 0:02:31
37 Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) 0:02:35
38 Alois Falenta (Fra)
39 Michael Van Den Ham (Can) Garneau – Easton Cycling
40 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) 0:02:37
41 Emil Hekele (Cze) 0:02:38
42 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:02:47
43 Jeremy Martin (Can) Focus CX Team Canada 0:03:03
44 Tobin Ortenblad (USA) Santa Cruz Factory Racing 0:03:17
45 Rob Peeters (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 0:03:31
46 Severin Sagesser (Swi) 0:03:35
47 Jeremy Powers (USA) Aspire Racing 0:03:36
48 Travis Livermon (USA) Maxxis-Shimano Pro Cyclocross 0:03:45
49 Jeremy Durrin (USA) Neon Velo Cycling Team 0:04:05
50 Michal Malik (Cze) 0:04:17
51 Toki Sawada (Jpn)
52 Marvin Schmidt (Ger) 0:04:18
53 Christian Helmig (Lux) 0:04:19
54 Jack Kisseberth (USA) 0:04:35
55 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) 0:04:38
56 Kohei Maeda (Jpn) 0:05:11
57 Hikaru Kosaka (Jpn)
58 Zsolt Bur (Hun) 0:05:14
59 Lex Reichling (Lux) 0:05:18
60 Scott Thiltges (Lux) 0:05:46
61 Mark Mcconnell (Can) Hot Sauce Cycling X Garneau 0:05:58
62 Ulrich Theobald (Ger)
63 Daniel Ania Gonzalez (Spa)
64 Antonin Marecaille (Fra) AVC Aix En Provence
65 Philipp Heigl (Aut)
DNF Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
DNF Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions
DNS Laurens Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus
DNS Jens Adams (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam
DNS Joachim Parbo (Den)

Final World Cup standings :
1 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 530 pts
2 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 474
3 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 447
4 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 384
5 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus 373
6 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 345
7 Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 344
8 Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon 304
9 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 301
10 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Steylaerts-Verona 297
11 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 294
12 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Team Steylaerts 285
13 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Beobank-Corendon 261
14 Daan Soete (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 230
15 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 226
16 David Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon 225
17 Michael Boros (Cze) ERA-Circus 220
18 Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis 205
19 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Odlo Mtb Racing Team 204
20 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Beobank-Corendon 204
21 Simon Zahner (Swi) 200
22 Jens Adams (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 195
23 Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 194
24 Steve Chainel (Fra) 192
25 Diether Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus 188
26 Rob Peeters (Bel) Crelan-Charlesteam 179
27 Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com 172
28 Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan-Charlesteam 170
29 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 163
30 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) 158
31 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 151
32 Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Beobank-Corendon 136
33 Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa) 115
34 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) 115
35 Sascha Weber (Ger) 112
36 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 111
37 Severin Sagesser (Swi) 109
38 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) 108
39 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 98
40 Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles 89
41 Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) ERA-Circus 87
42 Jan Nesvadba (Cze) 82
43 Alois Falenta (Fra) 79
44 Tomas Paprstka (Cze) 78
45 Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa) 75
46 Michael Van Den Ham (Can) Garneau – Easton Cycling 64
47 Geoff Kabush (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing 63
48 Jeremy Martin (Can) Focus CX Team Canada 63
49 Tobin Ortenblad (USA) Santa Cruz Factory Racing 60
50 Lukas Winterberg (Swi) 59
51 Luca Braidot (Ita) 58
52 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 57
53 Kerry Werner (USA) Kona Endurance Team 56
54 Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Destil – Jo Piels Cycling Team 55
55 Jeremy Powers (USA) Aspire Racing 54
56 Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) 51
57 Travis Livermon (USA) Maxxis-Shimano Pro Cyclocross 43
58 Nicolas Samparisi (Ita) 43
59 Lars Boom (Ned) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 40
60 James Driscoll (USA) Raleigh Clement 39
61 Anthony Clark (USA) Squid 38
62 Dan Timmerman (USA) Stan’S Notubes Elite CX 37
63 Marek Konwa (Pol) 34
64 Jeremy Durrin (USA) Neon Velo Cycling Team 34
65 Jonathan Page (USA) Fuji 34
66 Allen Krughoff (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport/Yogaglo 32
67 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) 29
68 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) 29
69 Melvin Rulliere (Fra) 28
70 Craig Richey (Can) Garneau – Easton Cycling 28
71 Anthonin Didier (Fra) 27
72 Daniele Braidot (Ita) 26
73 Justin Lindine (USA) Apex / NBX / Trek 26
74 Daniel Summerhill (USA) Maxxis-Shimano 25
75 Niels Wubben (Ned) 22
76 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 20
77 Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing 18
78 Cristian Cominelli (Ita) 16
79 Andrew Dillman (USA) Cyclocross Alliance 16
80 Hector Fernando Riveros Paez (Col) 16
81 Troy Wells (USA) Team Clif Bar 16
82 Mark Mcconnell (Can) Hot Sauce Cycling X Garneau 16
83 Andreas Moser (Swi) 16
84 Curtis White (USA) 14
85 Radomír Šimunek (Cze) 13
86 Benjamin Sonntag (Ger) Team Clif Bar 11
87 Emil Hekele (Cze) 10
88 Michal Malik (Cze) 10
89 Stefano Capponi (Ita) 9
90 Ivan Gicquiau (Fra) 9
91 Kenneth Hansen (Den) 9
92 Yannick Gruner (Ger) 8
93 Yoann Corbihan (Fra) 7
94 Matej Lasak (Cze) 6
95 Antonin Marecaille (Fra) AVC Aix En Provence 6
96 Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Kalas-NNOF 6
97 Aaron Schooler (Can) Focus CX Team Canada 6
98 Felix Drumm (Ger) 4
99 Michael Wildhaber (Swi) 3
100 Vincent Dias Dos Santos (Lux) 3
101 Christian Helmig (Lux) 3
102 Andrew Juiliano (USA) 2
103 Max Lindenau (Ger) 2
104 Marvin Schmidt (Ger) 1
105 Gusty Bausch (Lux) 1
106 Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) 1