With the change from Dendermonde to Gavere, fans were unsure about the change at first.
However, it’s been a while since the Big Three raced each other and fought until the end.
Their last World Cup together was all the way back in 2022 Antwerpen. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) beat out Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) for first while Tom Pidcock finished in eighth place.
However, this race was different. We got to see the Big Three take turns at the front, and lock up the podium spots while fighting for each step.
It’s worth a watch for sure.
Watch the intense battle between the Big Three:
Enjoy over three minutes of highlights and last-lap footage:
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Van Aert came in second.
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Pidcock however did better than the last time the trio raced against each other. He moved up from eighth to third and took his podium stand.
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Finally, a picture of the Big Three together on the podium.
Battle of the big three 🤺🏆
🥇 @mathieuvdpoel (NED)
🥈 @WoutvanAert (BEL)
🥉 @tompidcock (GBR)#CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/pWqfol9Vku— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 26, 2022
In the 90+ strong field, there was a group of North Americans tackling the heavy course.
10 Americans attended the race.
- Curtis White finished 27th.
- Scott Funston got 33rd.
- Eric Brunner finished 39th.
- Andrew Strohmeyer came in 44th.
- Andrew Dillman came in 48th.
- Caleb Swartz got 50th.
- Daxton Mock finished 52nd.
- Jack Spranger got 58th.
- Dillon Mcneill got 64th.
- Marcis Shelton came in 67th.
Three Canadians attended the race.
- Evan Russell got 65th.
- Alexander Woodford got 75th.
- Cameron Jette did not finish.
See full results below.
2022 UCI World Cup Gavere Results: Elite Men
| Position | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 57:14:00 |
| 2 | VAN AERT Wout | 0:27 | |
| 3 | PIDCOCK Tom | 0:54 | |
| 4 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | 1:53 |
| 5 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 2:20 |
| 6 | SWEECK Laurens | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 2:55 |
| 7 | NYS Thibau | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 3:50 |
| 8 | VANDEBOSCH Toon | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 3:57 |
| 9 | MASON Cameron | TRINITY RACING CROSS | 4:02 |
| 10 | KUYPERS Gerben | 4:10 | |
| 11 | VERSTRYNGE Emiel | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 4:49 |
| 12 | ADAMS Jens | 4:59 | |
| 13 | VANDEPUTTE Niels | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 5:10 |
| 14 | MENUT David | AS BIKE RACING | 5:15 |
| 15 | MICHELS Jente | ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK | 5:16 |
| 16 | VAN KESSEL Corné | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | 5:44 |
| 17 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 5:58 |
| 18 | RONHAAR Pim | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 6:05 |
| 19 | HAVERDINGS David | BALOISE TREK LIONS | 6:17 |
| 20 | MEIN Thomas | HOPE FACTORY RACING | 6:24 |
| 21 | KUHN Kevin | TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | 6:41 |
| 22 | MERLIER Tim | 6:44 | |
| 23 | BERTOLINI Gioele | SELLE ITALIA - GUERCIOTTI - ELITE | 6:48 |
| 24 | ORTS LLORET Felipe | 6:55 | |
| 25 | THOMAS Théo | SEBMOTOBIKES CX TEAM | 6:57 |
| 26 | BOMMENEL Nathan | AS BIKE RACING | 7:13 |
| 27 | WHITE Curtis | 7:16 | |
| 28 | CRISPIN Mickaël | CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | 7:21 |
| 29 | WYSEURE Joran | CRELAN - FRISTADS | 7:24 |
| 30 | LILLO Dario | DESCHACHT - HENS - MAES | 7:26 |
| 31 | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Kevin | NESTA - MMR CX TEAM | 7:47 |
| 32 | BARNES Toby | 8:08 | |
| 33 | FUNSTON Scott | 8:32 | |
| 34 | BOROS Michael | 8:42 | |
| 35 | SOMMER Lars | HEIZOMAT RADTEAM P/B KLOSTER KITCHEN | |
| 36 | VAN LIEROP Danny | ||
| 37 | DUBAU Joshua | ||
| 38 | GROSLAMBERT Martin | ||
| 39 | BRUNNER Eric | ||
| 40 | ROUILLER Loris | CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | |
| 41 | DORIGONI Jakob | ||
| 42 | RODRIGUEZ NOVOA Miguel | ||
| 43 | GUILLAUD Valentin | ||
| 44 | STROHMEYER Andrew | CXHAIRS DEVO TREK BIKES | |
| 45 | RIMAN Jakub | ||
| 46 | MASCIARELLI Lorenzo | PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | |
| 47 | OPPIZZI Matteo | ||
| 48 | DILLMAN Andrew | ||
| 49 | GABRIEL Timothé | TEAM CX TPM | |
| 50 | SWARTZ Caleb | ||
| 51 | KUSCHLA Silas | ||
| 52 | MOCK Daxton | CXHAIRS DEVO TREK BIKES | |
| 53 | STRANSKY Matej | ||
| 54 | GROENENDAAL Bailey | ||
| 55 | HÄHNEL Frederik | ||
| 56 | POMIAN Szymon | ||
| 57 | HARTER Luca | ||
| 58 | SPRANGER Jack | ||
| 59 | LEQUET Corentin | AS BIKE RACING | |
| 60 | YOUNG Jenson | ||
| 61 | BARNES Daniel | TEAM SPECTRA WIGGLE P/B VITUS | |
| 62 | CASTILLE Noé | CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | |
| 63 | MARD Filip | ||
| 64 | MCNEILL Dillon | CXHAIRS DEVO TREK BIKES | |
| 65 | RUSSELL Evan | ||
| 66 | VANICEK Simon | ||
| 67 | SHELTON Marcis | ||
| 68 | HAMM Florian | ||
| 69 | BARD Nicolas | ||
| 70 | PEREZ SERDIO Julio | ||
| 71 | WYLLIE Simon | TEAM SPECTRA WIGGLE P/B VITUS | |
| 72 | NASH Tristan | ||
| 73 | GASSNER Michael | ||
| 74 | JUNQUERA SAN MILLAN Mario | UNICAJA BANCO-GIJON | |
| 75 | WOODFORD Alexander | ||
| 76 | PAHLKE Jasper Levi | HEIZOMAT RADTEAM P/B KLOSTER KITCHEN | |
| 77 | INGUANZO MACHO Gonzalo | ||
| 78 | DEGENKOLB Hannes | HEIZOMAT RADTEAM P/B KLOSTER KITCHEN | |
| 79 | GILIOLI Samuele Silla | ||
| 80 | JØRGENSEN Mikkel | ||
| 81 | HEIGL Philipp | ||
| 82 | GEBELE Julian | ||
| 83 | GARNIER Léo | ||
| 84 | NYSTROM SPENCER Felipe Timoteo | ||
| 85 | GONZALEZ SANCHEZ Daniel | UNICAJA BANCO-GIJON | |
| 86 | GUÉRIN Morgan | ||
| 87 | TURSI Loris | ||
| DNF | BAESTAENS Vincent | ||
| DNF | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Alain | NESTA - MMR CX TEAM | |
| DNF | HENDRIKX Mees | CRELAN - FRISTADS |
