Cyclo-Cross World Cup 2017 – 5-ZEVEN [FULL RACE]

November 26, 2016

Cyclo-Cross World Cup 2017 – Stage 5 – ZEVEN – Germany

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.

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) won the fifth round of the Telenet UCI World Cup in Zeven on Saturday on a cold afternoon in northern Germany. Temperatures hovered around freezing point when the start was given and the 21-year-old needed some time to get going. He had a troubled opening lap but then crushed his rivals on the fast and twisting course. Van der Poel closed down an 18-second deficit on early leader Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice), who then was unable to keep up with the Dutch champion.

“I knew I had to close the gap as soon as possible because Wout was quite far. Once I bridged up I knew I was stronger because it’s boosting the moral to have closed down such a gap. I quickly counter-attacked and straight away I had a big gap. It was fun,” van der Poel told Telenet Play Sports TV.

Van der Poel rode just outside the top-10 when reaching the sand pit. The Dutchman claimed someone had ridden into his wheels, forcing him to lose some spokes. By the time he made it to the pit and switched bikes, he was 18 seconds down on leaders Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea) and Van Aert.

“I didn’t start well because I was surprised the lights turned green so fast,” van der Poel said. “Then there was a bit of pushing and at the sand section I lost some spokes. I lost a lot of time to get a new bike.”

Van Aert didn’t waste time and went flat out, hoping to create an unbridgeable gap over van der Poel. It wasn’t to be. From the third lap on van der Poel was out of traffic and time-trialed his way to the front. Halfway through the sixth of ten laps in Zeven, the Dutch champion bridged up with the World champion. Once the seventh lap got underway, van der Poel took the lead. After tackling a few fast corners on the course at the ‘Hinter der Ahe’ forest, Van Aert was simply dropped by van der Poel. The latter went on to clock the fastest lap time of the race, 13 seconds faster than Van Aert in that lap.

Van Aert tried to remain upbeat after his defeat over van der Poel. “I managed to put him in trouble for half a race. Once he moved into the lead I realized after three corners what would happen. It was as if he rode on other tires. I was unable to follow him. He was the strongest,” Van Aert said.

Midway through the race, Tom Meeusen appeared to be on his way to third place, riding well in the shadow of the battle between van der Poel and Van Aert. During the second half of the event, however, Meeusen lost momentum while Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) started to pick up speed in the background. By the time they hit the penultimate lap, the Belgian duo was together, fighting for the final podium spot at nearly 40 seconds from leader van der Poel. Pauwels easily dropped Meeusen and finished third.

“I didn’t have a good start and was unable to move up. Once there was space I got going,” Pauwels said. “I rode good through the sand. Van der Poel passed me in the sand. He was going much faster and it was impossible to follow him. Even though I enjoyed a good day van der Poel was still much stronger.”

Mathieu van der Poel is on a winning streak in the World Cup, winning his sixth consecutive World Cup start. Nevertheless World champion Van Aert remains leader in this season’s World Cup as van der Poel didn’t participate in the two first rounds due to a knee injury. Van Aert strengthens his lead in the World Cup with 300 points. Pauwels moves into second place in the World Cup standings with 229 points. Laurens Sweeck (ERA Real Estate – Circus) finished sixth in Zeven. He drops to third overall with 224 points. Mathieu van der Poel is eighth overall after his two wins with 160 points. He seems keen to continue his winning streak in the World Cup.

“The last few weeks I felt I was hitting top form. I hope to keep up this form until the next training camp and then add a few percentages with the eye on the World championships,” van der Poel said. On December 18th, he has the chance to win again at the citadel in Namur, Belgium, where he started his winning streak one year ago.

Results :
1 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon 1:03:21
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice 0:00:21
3 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:00:31
4 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:00:53
5 Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:08
6 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus 0:01:24
7 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:01:32
8 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Team Steylaerts 0:01:38
9 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:01:53
10 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Steylaerts-Verona 0:01:59
11 Jens Adams (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice 0:02:00
12 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:02:02
13 Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice 0:02:03
14 David Van der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon
15 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:02:22
16 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Beobank-Corendon 0:02:27
17 Michael Boros (Cze) ERA-Circus 0:02:28
18 Diether Sweeck (Bel) ERA-Circus 0:02:29
19 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:02:47
20 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games 0:02:56
21 Sascha Weber (Ger) 0:03:08
22 Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) ERA-Circus 0:03:09
23 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Odlo Mtb Racing Team 0:03:10
24 Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team 0:03:11
25 Daan Soete (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:03:15
26 Rob Peeters (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice 0:03:47
27 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:03:50
28 Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Expres Cz-Merida Team Kolin 0:03:54
29 Simon Zahner (Swi) 0:03:55
30 Stephen Hyde (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com 0:04:05
31 Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Beobank-Corendon 0:04:12
32 Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa) 0:04:14
33 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) 0:04:30
34 Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Expres Cz-Merida Team Kolin 0:04:41
35 Severin Saegesser (Swi) 0:04:45
36 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:04:55
37 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels 0:04:58
38 Radomir Simunek (Cze) Era Real Estate – Circus 0:05:12
39 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa) 0:05:19
40 Niels Wubben (Ned)
41 Alois Falenta (Fra)
42 Ivan Gicquiau (Fra)
43 Yannick Gruner (Ger)
44 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Beobank-Corendon
45 Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita)
46 Kenneth Hansen (Den)
47 Jeremy Powers (USA) Aspire Racing
48 Vincent Dias Dos Santos (Lux)
49 Max Lindenau (Ger)
50 Gusty Bausch (Lux)
51 Emil Hekele (Cze)
52 Michal Malik (Cze)
53 Nicolas Samparisi (Ita)
54 Clement Bomme (Fra)
55 Scott Thiltges (Lux)
56 Lex Reichling (Lux)
57 Christian Helmig (Lux)
58 Ole Quast (Ger)
59 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Koch Engineering / Muesing Racing Team
60 Marvin Schmidt (Ger)
61 Morten Laustsen (Den)
62 Pit Schlechter (Lux) Leopard Pro Cycling
63 Philipp Heigl (Aut)
64 Ingvar Omarsson (Isl)