Ronhaar Conquers the Sand to Win U23 Title at the 2021 Cyclocross World Championships: Results, Report, Photos – Ostend, Belgium

OSTEND, Belgium—Dutch cyclocross and sand go hand in hand, even when in Belgium.

The Dutch U23 men went 1-2 on the sandy, slippery course on the beach in Ostend.

Two Powerhouses Pack the Beach

Early on, the Dutch set a hard pace leading the top three positions after the first turn.

Start van het WK voor beloften. De Nederlanders gaan er meteen keihard tegenaan! pic.twitter.com/zXgmIXF62O

— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) January 30, 2021

A large group of mostly Dutch and Belgian riders early on saw attacks with no real separation.

The sand made for a long string of riders behind the leading pack.

Prachtig beeld: een ouderwetse België-Nederland op het strand van Oostende 🍿 #WKoostende pic.twitter.com/gV9ndtI2mn

— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) January 30, 2021

Going into the second lap the group was still together, in the grass Timo Kielich (BEL) broke free temporarily, and managed to stay upright with an impressive drift on and off-camber.

The group came back and Pim Ronhaar (NED) pushed the pace with Kielich.

The pair hit the sand first and opened the first real gap of the race at 18 minutes.

Ronhaar Rests on the Grass, Full Gas on the Sand

Ronhaar kept the pressure on, and without an attack, opened up a gap to Kielich was 4 seconds going into Lap 4, with the gap back to the chase of Kielich, Toon Vandebosch, and defending champ Ryan Kamp was 12 seconds.

The Dutch leader rode conservatively through the slippery grass, but attacked the sand to sustain and stretch his gap.

On Lap Five, Kamp slid on the stairs on lap four, falling off the chase group, which was seven seconds off the leader.

In Lap Six, Kamp came back to the chase and pushed the pace going into the large flyover, attacking in the sand for the final time, bringing Kielich with him.

Setting a hard pace, Kamp pushed the Belgian to the grass, where he attacked again and broke free.

Coming off the flyover, Kielich slid in the mud and fell further off Kamp’s pace, who dug deep to close the gap to six seconds.

Back at the front Ronhaar flew across the line, literally flapping his arms like wings to capture the first rainbow jersey of the weekend.

Kamp finished eight seconds back in second, with Kielich recovering from his crash to take third.

Rider Reactions

“This is an amazing feeling,” Ronhaar said after the finish. “In the beginning, it was a bit hectic. We were with 6, 7 riders in the first two laps. I felt really strong, every time on the bridge through the sand, I was in place one or place two. Then after two laps, I didn’t even attack, I just rode my own tempo and I got 5, 6 seconds. In the grass section, I was just riding easy, so I had enough power in the sand, and that paid off.”

Ronhaar explained the unique course. “It’s so weird with the water coming so high, some places are super soft, some are hard, it’s like a muddy section, full on the power, then running to the next part of the sand.”

Follow all our 2021 UCI Cyclocross World Championships coverage from Ostend, Belgium here.

2021 UCI Cyclocross World Championships Saturday Results: U23 Men

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Age	Result
1	2	RONHAAR	Pim	NED	20	0:49:47
2	1	KAMP	Ryan	NED	21	0:49:55
3	12	KIELICH	Timo	BEL	22	0:50:01
4	15	VERSTRYNGE	Emiel	BEL	19	0:50:06
5	10	VANDEBOSCH	Toon	BEL	22	0:50:18
6	3	HENDRIKX	Mees	NED	21	0:50:20
7	13	FERDINANDE	Anton	BEL	21	0:50:42
8	11	VANDEPUTTE	Niels	BEL	21	0:50:48
9	24	TURNER	Ben	GBR	22	0:51:07
10	4	VAN DIJKE	Tim	NED	21	0:51:08
11	42	FONTANA	Filippo	ITA	21	0:51:37
12	14	WYSEURE	Joran	BEL	20	0:51:42
13	23	MEIN	Thomas	GBR	22	0:51:45
14	20	ROUILLER	Loris	SUI	21	0:51:46
15	19	LILLO	Dario	SUI	19	0:52:03
16	35	JOT	Hugo	FRA	20	0:52:11
17	5	AGTERBERG	Kyle	NED	22	0:52:36
18	36	THOMAS	Théo	FRA	20	0:52:41
19	30	DELBOVE	Joris	FRA	21	0:52:46
20	6	VERBURG	Luke	NED	20	0:52:52
21	26	BARNES	Toby	GBR	21	0:53:08
22	31	MAINGUENAUD	Tom	FRA	21	0:53:08
23	41	CULLELL ESTAPE	Jofre	ESP	22	0:53:36
24	22	SOMMER	Lars	SUI	19	0:53:45
25	34	LELANDAIS	Rémi	FRA	19	0:53:56
26	21	STEHLI	Felix	SUI	21	0:54:10
27	28	MCGUIRE	Rory	GBR	19	0:54:29
28	32	ANANIE	Ugo	FRA	19	0:54:43
29	47	HULA	Robert	CZE	21	0:54:51
30	29	BARNES	Daniel	GBR	19	0:55:02
31	48	SØLVHØJ	Oliver	DEN	19	0:55:05
32	27	STOCKWELL	Oliver	GBR	19	0:55:19
33	50	DAHL	Gustav	DEN	21	0:55:31
34	37	HUBY	Antoine	FRA	20	0:56:03
35	57	BETTENDORFF	Loïc	LUX	20	0:56:08
36	58	PRIES	Cédric	LUX	21	0:56:11
37	45	ŘÍMAN	Jakub	CZE	21	0:56:23
38	51	BAK	Simon	DEN	21	0:56:24
39	44	PAVAN	Marco	ITA	21	0:57:18
40	49	MILLENNIUM	Ian	DEN	20	0:58:00
41	43	LEONE	Samuele	ITA	20
42	55	MUSIALIK	Jakub	POL	19
43	54	DOMIN	Krzysztof	POL	21
	46	VANÍČEK	Šimon	CZE	22	DNF
	40	FEIJOO ALBERTE	Ivan	ESP	22	DNF