At the 2021 UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Rucphen, the Netherlands, Dutch fans, who couldn’t attend in person and couldn’t watch their hero Mathieu van der Poel after he was a late scratch, still enjoyed an all-time classic between rivals Tom Pidcock and Eli Iserbyt.
It took half the race for Pidock to emerge from a slow start to bring back early leaders Lars van der Haar, Iserbyt and a pack of five other contenders.
On Lap Four, Pidcock finally caught the leaders and made his way straight to the front.
World Cup leader Iserbyt looked patient, returning to the front on Lap Six, and then with teammate Michael Vanthourenhout in tow, escaped to a big gap on the penultimate lap.
Could the teammates go one-two?
Halfway through the final lap, it looked like that the two would have a dream World Cup, until a resurgent Pidcock flew by Vanthourenhout.
Heading into the final barriers, just as in the women’s race, the two leaders raced to come out of the barriers with the lead into the final turns.
Pidcock entered the final barriers behind. Both bunnyhopped the barriers, but Pidcock hopped them faster, and came into the final straight first.
Unlike Vos, Iserbyt could not find Boss mode and had to settle for second behind Pidcock, who took his first World Cup win this season in his second try.
Vanthourenhout settled for third.
Stay tuned for more coverage.
2021 Cyclocross World Cup Rucphen Results: Elite Men
| Pos | Nr | Name / UCI Cyclocross Team | NAT | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | PIDCOCK Thomas INEOS GRENADIERS | GBR | 1:03:26 | - |
| 2 | 12 | ISERBYT Eli PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 1:03:29 | +0:03 |
| 3 | 15 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 1:03:34 | +0:08 |
| 4 | 14 | HERMANS Quinten TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | BEL | 1:03:38 | +0:12 |
| 5 | 2 | VAN DER HAAR Lars BALOISE TREK LIONS | NED | 1:03:41 | +0:15 |
| 6 | 13 | AERTS Toon BALOISE TREK LIONS | BEL | 1:04:01 | +0:35 |
| 7 | 16 | SWEECK Laurens PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 1:04:20 | +0:54 |
| 8 | 3 | VAN KESSEL Corne TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | NED | 1:04:29 | +1:03 |
| 9 | 17 | BAESTAENS Vincent CX TEAM DESCHACHT-GROUP HENS-CONTAINERS MAES | BEL | 1:04:33 | +1:07 |
| 10 | 20 | VANDEBOSCH Toon PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 1:04:35 | +1:09 |
| 11 | 34 | KUHN Kevin TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | SUI | 1:04:45 | +1:19 |
| 12 | 19 | VANDEPUTTE Niels ALPECIN - FENIX | BEL | 1:04:52 | +1:26 |
| 13 | 18 | SOETE Daan CX TEAM DESCHACHT-GROUP HENS-CONTAINERS MAES | BEL | 1:04:59 | +1:33 |
| 14 | 65 | ORTS LLORET Felipe BURGOS-BH | ESP | 1:05:00 | +1:34 |
| 15 | 23 | MERLIER Tim ALPECIN - FENIX | BEL | 1:05:02 | +1:36 |
| 16 | 5 | VAN DER POEL David ALPECIN - FENIX | NED | 1:05:06 | +1:40 |
| 17 | 6 | HENDRIKX Mees IKO - CRELAN | NED | 1:05:21 | +1:55 |
| 18 | 55 | MEISEN Marcel ALPECIN - FENIX | GER | 1:05:29 | +2:03 |
| 19 | 22 | VERMEERSCH Gianni ALPECIN - FENIX | BEL | 1:05:32 | +2:06 |
| 20 | 21 | MEEUSEN Tom CX TEAM DESCHACHT-GROUP HENS-CONTAINERS MAES | BEL | 1:05:37 | +2:11 |
| 21 | 41 | BOROS Michael | CZE | 1:05:38 | +2:12 |
| 22 | 46 | MEIN Thomas TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | GBR | 1:05:41 | +2:15 |
| 23 | 35 | RUEGG Timon CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | SUI | 1:05:52 | +2:26 |
| 24 | 47 | TURNER Ben TRINITY RACING | GBR | 1:05:58 | +2:32 |
| 25 | 50 | WHITE Curtis CANNONDALE/CYCLOCROSSWORLD | USA | 1:06:09 | +2:43 |
| 26 | 38 | DORIGONI Jakob SELLE ITALIA - GUERCIOTTI - ELITE | ITA | 1:06:17 | +2:51 |
| 27 | 39 | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Kevin NESTA - MMR CX TEAM | ESP | 1:06:17 | +2:51 |
| 28 | 9 | GODRIE Stan | NED | 1:06:17 | +2:51 |
| 29 | 45 | MASON Cameron TRINITY RACING | GBR | 1:06:37 | +3:11 |
| 30 | 26 | ANANIE Ugo CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | FRA | 1:06:44 | +3:18 |
| 31 | 25 | CHAINEL Steve CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | FRA | 1:06:56 | +3:30 |
| 32 | 4 | RONHAAR Pim BALOISE TREK LIONS | NED | 1:07:20 | +3:54 |
| 33 | 48 | BARNES Toby SCHAMEL P/B KLOSTER KITCHEN | GBR | 1:07:26 | +4:00 |
| 34 | 56 | WEBER Sascha TREK | VAUDE | GER | 1:07:46 | +4:20 |
| 35 | 49 | WERNER Kerry | USA | 1:07:49 | +4:23 |
| 36 | 37 | BERTOLINI Gioele SELLE ITALIA - GUERCIOTTI - ELITE | ITA | 1:07:52 | +4:26 |
| 37 | 11 | JANSSEN Lucas | NED | 1:07:59 | +4:33 |
| 38 | 7 | VAN DER MEER Gosse | NED | 1:08:12 | +4:46 |
| 39 | 33 | SPARFEL Louis SORIUS | FRA | 1:08:20 | +4:54 |
| 40 | 30 | CHAMERAT DUMONT Antony | FRA | 1:08:29 | +5:03 |
| 41 | 29 | BOMMENEL Nathan A.S BIKE CROSSTEAM | FRA | 1:08:40 | +5:14 |
| 42 | 51 | HAIDET Lance L39ION OF LOS ANGELES | USA | 1:08:45 | +5:19 |
| 43 | 59 | GAZE Samuel ALPECIN - FENIX | NZL | 1:08:46 | +5:20 |
| 44 | 61 | VAN DEN HAM Michael | CAN | 1:08:48 | +5:22 |
| 45 | 10 | BRINKMAN Joost | NED | 1:09:07 | +5:41 |
| 46 | 27 | PHILIBERT Aurelien ARDENNES CROSS TEAM GECIBAT | FRA | 1:09:13 | +5:47 |
| 47 | 52 | SWARTZ Caleb | USA | 1:09:13 | +5:47 |
| 48 | 40 | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Alain NESTA - MMR CX TEAM | ESP | 1:09:21 | +5:55 |
| 49 | 31 | PONCHON Eliote | FRA | 1:09:21 | +5:55 |
| 50 | 32 | BURNET Pierrick A.S BIKE CROSSTEAM | FRA | 1:09:43 | +6:17 |
| 51 | 43 | PETRUS Lubomir | CZE | -1 LAP | |
| 52 | 28 | GABRIEL Timothe | FRA | -1 LAP | |
| 53 | 60 | KOCKELMANN Raphael | LUX | -1 LAP | |
| 54 | 58 | NOLAN Sean EVOPRO RACING | IRL | -1 LAP | |
| 55 | 62 | JETTE Cameron | CAN | -2 LAP | |
| 56 | 53 | GINIAT Andrew | USA | -3 LAP | |
| 57 | 54 | CLOUTIER Tyler | USA | -3 LAP | |
| 58 | 57 | MALNASI Jozsef-Attila | ROU | -4 LAP | |
| 59 | 63 | NYSTROM SPENCER Felipe Timoteo | CRC | -6 LAP | |
| 36 | LUETHI Eric SF-RACING | SUI | DNS |
