Dutch Delight: De Jong, van Der Poel Defend Home Turf at 2016 Valkenburg Cyclocross World Cup

VALKENBURG AAN DE GEUL, The Netherlands—In a cyclocross season that’s shaping up to be one for the ages due to the intrigue and drama of each race, the 2016 Valkenburg Work Cup and the Cauberg hill stayed true to the script.

Valkenburg marked the first World Cup of the season on European soil, and the first World Cup meeting between Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) and Wout van Aert (Crelan Vaastgoedservice), as van der Poel skipped both CrossVegas and Jingle Cross as he recovered from knee surgery.

On a course that was remarkably different than the ankle-swallowing mudfest seen earlier in the week at the Kermiscross in Belgium, the World Cup at the Cauberg proved to be just moist with little mud. Yet it was the slightly muddy, rutted off-cambers that proved to be determining factors in the race.

Valkenburg Men: A van Aert and van der Poel Duel with Passengers

In the men’s race, the much-anticipated two-man duel between van Aert and van der Poel took half a race to develop. While neither racer strayed far from the front of the race, Tom Meeusen (Telenet Fidea Lions), Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux-Napoleon Games) and teammate Kevin Pauwels looked determined to make it a five-man race for the win.

With just three laps to go, it still looked like a four-way battle for the win, with Pauwels trailing a bit behind the four leaders. Van Aert was content to push the pace, sprinting out of the corners and displaying impressive running prowess on the long, stair-laden run-up. Van der Poel was content to follow, while Vanthourenhout and Meeusen did their best to remain in contact.

On the third to final lap, van der Poel hit the front, launching a vicious attack while pushing a huge gear up the climbs. Van Aert led the chase of his rival, and with two laps to go, the group was just four seconds behind, with 15 minutes of racing remaining.

Fans had plenty of hope to witness yet another last-lap beautiful duel that the first two stops of the Superprestige series delivered, but the Cauberg hill had other plans. With a lap and a half remaining, on a slippery, muddy off-camber, van Aert hit the deck, taking down Meeusen with him. Suddenly, Vanthourenhout was by himself in second, and once again, van Aert was left with a derailed chain.

With one lap to go, van der Poel had 18 seconds on Vanthourenhout and 28 seconds on the recovering van Aert and Meeusen duo, and it looked to only be a matter of who would finish in third.

However, van Aert, with one giant flight of stairs, shed Meeusen for good and closed the gap on Vanthourenhout. As the two remounted their bikes together, Vanthourenhout was already looking behind to see if his third place was secure.

For the third straight time, on the sport’s biggest stage, van der Poel got the better of van Aert and showed no signs of the knee injury he suffered this spring while riding his BMX bike.

American Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz) continued his European campaign, finishing 46th.

Valkenburg Women: De Jong Delights

2016 Cyclocross World Champ Thalita de Jong (Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team), primarily a road racer, has found her second sport of cyclocross just might suit her well enough to become her first.

On a technical, challenging Cauberg course, the Dutch racer hit the front group, applying pressure and quickly reducing the race to six leaders on the first lap, with Sophie de Boer (Kalas-NNOF), Sanne Cant (IKO Enertherm-Beobank), De Jong’s teammate Lucinda Brand, American Amanda Miller (Boulder Cycle Sport / Yogaglo)  and Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions) all doing their best to hold De Jong’s wheel on the pavement and wide-open stretches, while de Boer and Cant pushed forward on the technical sections.

Caroline Mani (Raleigh Clement) and the fresh-from-the-U.S. Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team) led the chase, with Pavla Havlikova (Kooperativa Ladies) and Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-CycrocrossWorld) following.

De Boer proved to be best suited to challenge de Jong on the day, using her superior skills on the course’s off-cambers and technical sections to remain in contact or seize the lead. In similar fashion to van Aert’s crash later in the the day, Van Loy slid out on an off-camber, and just like that, one-by-one, racers fell off the pace of De Jong.

De Boer was the last to drop, but the final result seemed never to be in question, despite a stumble by de Jong entering a run-up.

The World Champion showed everyone that her win in Zolder was no fluke. De Jong could be yet another Rabo Liv racer to dominant cyclocross if she so chooses, and admitted that despite having some room for improvement, is enjoying her new off-road career.

Miller’s fifth place was an impressive result, and the Iowa rider has been on a recent tear, finishing first and second in the two days of UCI C2 racing at the U.S. Open of Cyclocross in Boulder last weekend.

Six American women contested the Valkenburg World Cup. Antonneau finished 8th, Elle Anderson (SRAM / Velocio) in 13th, Rebecca Fahringer (Amy D Foundation) 15th, Ellen Noble (Aspire) in 37th, Christine Vardaros (Stevens) in 51st.

World Cup leader Katie Compton did not attend the race. De Boer took back the series leader’s jersey, while Noble retained her U23 leader’s jersey.

Valkenburg U23, Juniors: Bertolini, Bekaert Sprint to Victory, Four Americans Contest

In the Junior Men’s race, Belgian Yentl Bekaert outsprinted French Antoine Benoist for the win. Three Americans competed, led by Lane Maher, who scored yet another top ten in his European campaign. Caleb Swartz finished 37th, with Ben Gomez Villafañe in 39th, just under three minutes back.

In the men’s U23 race, another tight finish kept fans in suspense. Italy’s Gioele Bertolini upset the Belgian and Dutch contingent, outsprinting Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Netherlands for the win. American Brannan Fix was scored at 45th.

Stay tuned for full photo galleries.

2016 Valkenburg Cyclocross World Cup Results - Elite Women

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result	Pts
1	Thalita DE JONG	NED	24	41:59:00	200
2	Sophie DE BOER	NED	27	42:25:00	160
3	Sanne CANT	BEL	27	42:34:00	140
4	Lucinda BRAND	NED	28	42:45:00	120
5	Amanda MILLER	USA	31	42:59:00	110
6	Ellen VAN LOY	BEL	37	43:09:00	100
7	Caroline MANI	FRA	30	43:15:00	90
8	Kaitlin ANTONNEAU	USA	25	43:19:00	80
9	Alice Maria ARZUFFI	ITA	23	43:21:00	70
10	Helen WYMAN	GBR	36	43:30:00	60
11	Maud KAPTHEIJNS	NED	23	43:42:00	58
12	Annemarie WORST	NED	22	43:55:00	56
13	Elle ANDERSON	USA	29	44:00:00	54
14	Pavla HAVLIKOVA	CZE	34	44:20:00	52
15	Rebecca FAHRINGER	USA	28	44:30:00	50
16	Marlene PETIT	FRA	26	44:35:00	48
17	Jana CZECZINKAROVA	CZE	20	44:35:00	46
18	Nicole KOLLER	SUI	20	44:37:00	44
19	Laura VERDONSCHOT	BEL	21	44:41:00	42
20	Alicia FRANCK	BEL	23	45:08:00	40
21	Christine MAJERUS	LUX	30	45:11:00	39
22	Ceylin DEL CARMEN ALVARADO	NED	19	45:31:00	38
23	Jolien VERSCHUEREN	BEL	27	45:32:00	37
24	Hélène CLAUZEL	FRA	19	45:35:00	36
25	Évita MUZIC	FRA	18	45:52:00	35
26	Maëlle GROSSETETE	FRA	19	45:54:00	34
27	Aida NUNO PALACIO	ESP	34	45:57:00	33
28	Inge VAN DER HEIJDEN	NED	18	46:00:00	32
29	Sara CASASOLA	ITA	18	46:04:00	31
30	Perrine CLAUZEL	FRA	23	46:07:00	30
31	Ffion JAMES	GBR	20	46:09:00	29
32	Anaïs MORICHON	FRA	18	4:16	28
33	Lucia GONZALEZ BLANCO	ESP	27	46:19:00	27
34	Nadja HEIGL	AUT	21	46:22:00	26
35	Bianca VAN DEN HOEK	NED	41	46:24:00	25
36	Karen VERHESTRAETEN	BEL	26	46:36:00	24
37	Ellen NOBLE	USA	22	47:00:00	23
38	Martina MIKULASKOVA	CZE	24	47:01:00	22
39	Alicia GONZALEZ BLANCO	ESP	22	47:09:00	21
40	Francesca BARONI	ITA	18	47:16:00	20
41	Joyce VANDERBEKEN	BEL	33	47:27:00	19
42	Amira MELLOR	GBR	20	47:30:00	18
43	Lara KRÄHEMANN	SUI	18	47:40:00	17
44	Asa Maria ERLANDSSON	SWE	43	47:40:00	16
45	Cyriane MULLER	FRA	29	47:42:00	15
46	Tereza MEDVEDOVA	SVK	21	47:52:00	14
47	Elena VALENTINI	ITA	25	47:57:00	13
48	Tina ZÜGER	SUI	17	6:17	12
49	Fabienne SCHAUS	LUX	33	48:26:00	11
50	Nikola BAJGEROVA	CZE	20	49:32:00	10
51	Christine VARDAROS	USA	48		5
52	Mara SCHWAGER	GER	35		5
53	Zaloa TREVILLA	ESP	25		5

2016 Valkenburg Cyclocross World Cup Results - Elite Men

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result	Pts
1	Mathieu VAN DER POEL	NED	22	1:05:13	200
2	Wout VAN AERT	BEL	23	1:05:27	160
3	Michael VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	24	1:05:34	140
4	Tom MEEUSEN	BEL	29	1:05:47	120
5	Kevin PAUWELS	BEL	33	1:06:02	110
6	Toon AERTS	BEL	24	1:06:09	100
7	Lars VAN DER HAAR	NED	26	1:06:20	90
8	Corne VAN KESSEL	NED	26	1:06:35	80
9	Laurens SWEECK	BEL	24	1:06:41	70
10	Tim MERLIER	BEL	25	1:06:46	60
11	Jens ADAMS	BEL	25	1:07:01	58
12	Clément VENTURINI	FRA	24	1:07:09	56
13	Marcel MEISEN	GER	28	1:07:20	54
14	Stan GODRIE	NED	24	1:07:28	52
15	Philipp WALSLEBEN	GER	30	1:07:41	50
16	Simon ZAHNER	SUI	34	1:07:43	48
17	Michael BOROS	CZE	25	1:07:49	46
18	Gianni VERMEERSCH	BEL	25	1:07:49	44
19	Daan SOETE	BEL	23	1:07:52	42
20	Steve CHAINEL	FRA	34	1:07:57	40
21	Twan VAN DEN BRAND	NED	28	1:07:58	39
22	Severin SAEGESSER	SUI	25	1:07:59	38
23	Jan NESVADBA	CZE	26	1:08:04	37
24	Daan HOEYBERGHS	BEL	23	1:08:10	36
25	Martin HARING	SVK	31	1:08:10	35
26	David VAN DER POEL	NED	25	1:08:16	34
27	Thijs VAN AMERONGEN	NED	31	1:08:24	33
28	Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	32	1:08:33	32
29	Marcel WILDHABER	SUI	32	1:08:38	31
30	Patrick VAN LEEUWEN	NED	32	1:08:51	30
31	Matthieu BOULO	FRA	28	1:08:56	29
32	Francis MOUREY	FRA	37	1:09:09	28
33	Jim AERNOUTS	BEL	28	1:09:27	27
34	Kevin SUAREZ FERNANDEZ	ESP	23	1:09:43	26
35	Tomas PAPRSTKA	CZE	25	1:10:00	25
36	Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ	ESP	38	1:10:05	24
37	Diether SWEECK	BEL	24	1:10:15	23
38	Lukas WINTERBERG	SUI	29	1:10:24	22
39	Alois FALENTA	FRA	28	1:10:37	21
40	Vincent BAESTAENS	BEL	28	1:10:51	20
41	Andreas MOSER	SUI	33	1:10:54	19
42	Nicolas SAMPARISI	ITA	25	1:11:34	18
43	Michal MALÍK	CZE	28	1:12:04	17
44	Anthonin DIDIER	FRA	24	1:12:10	16
45	Matej LASAK	CZE	25		15
46	Tobin ORTENBLAD	USA	23		14
47	Sascha WEBER	GER	29		13
48	Lorenzo SAMPARISI	ITA	24		12
49	Julien TARAMARCAZ	SUI	30		11
50	Yu TAKENOUCHI	JPN	29		10
51	Mariusz GIL	POL	34		5
52	Christian HELMIG	LUX	36		5
53	Yoann CORBIHAN	FRA	29		5
54	Marvin SCHMIDT	GER	25		5
55	Inigo GOMEZ ELORRIAGA	ESP	26		5
56	Lex REICHLING	LUX	25		5

2016 Valkenburg Cyclocross World Cup Results - U23 Men

Rank	Name	Nat.	Result
1	Gioele Bertolini	ITA	0:52:40
2	Joris Nieuwenhuis	NED	0:00:01
3	Quinten Hermans	BEL	0:00:27
4	Adam Toupalik	CZE	0:00:33
5	Sieben Wouters	NED	0:00:36
6	Eli Iserbyt	BEL	0:00:45
7	Thomas Bonnet	FRA	0:00:50
8	Lucas Dubau	FRA	0:01:07
9	Joshua Dubau	FRA	0:00:00
10	Felipe Orts	SPA	0:01:15
11	Yannick Peeters	BEL	0:01:24
12	Jens Dekker	NED	0:01:33
13	Thijs Aerts	BEL	0:01:34
14	Clement Russo	FRA	0:01:35
15	Jelle Schuermans	BEL	0:01:43
16	Stefano Sala	ITA	0:01:48
17	Jakob Dorigoni	ITA	0:01:58
18	Maik Van Der Heijden	NED	0:02:03
19	Kobe Goossens	BEL	0:02:18
20	Kelvin Bakx	NED	0:02:20
21	Gosse Van Der Meer	NED	0:02:24
22	Eddy Fine	FRA	0:02:41
23	Timon Ruegg	SWI	0:03:06
24	Nadir Colledani	ITA	0:03:17
25	Manuel Muller	GER	0:03:42
26	Wesley Floren	NED	0:03:45
27	Richard Jansen	NED	0:03:52
28	Lukas Meiler	GER	0:03:54
29	Kevin Kuhn	SWI	0:03:59
30	Roel Van Der Stegen	NED	0:04:06
31	Stepan Schubert	CZE	0:04:13
32	Raphael Kraehemann	SWI	0:04:20
33	Perry Van Den Bos	NED	0:04:37
34	Koen Van Dijke	NED	0:04:47
35	Paul Lindenau	GER	0:04:50
36	Jonas Brezina	CZE	0:04:53
37	Antonio Folcarelli	ITA	0:05:27
38	Adrian Garcia	SPA	0:05:35
39	Daniel Mayer	CZE	0:05:42
40	Lois Dufaux	SWI	0:05:46
41	Maximilian Mobis	GER	0:06:13
42	Bjorn Van Der Heijden	NED	0:07:00
43	Frederik Hahnel	GER	0:07:06
44	Paul Rudolph	GER	0:07:49
45	Brannan Fix	USA	0:00:00

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