Advertisement

The next two-race block of the 2017/18 Telenet UCI World Cup includes two of the sport’s iconic venues. On Sunday, riders will storm the Citadel of Namur and then the day after Christmas, they head to the grounds of the famed Circuit Zolder racetrack in Heusden-Zolder.

Namur was first held in 2009 and became a part of the World Cup series in 2011, but it has already established itself as one of the sport’s top races thanks to its setting on the hills surrounding the Citadel of Namur and its challenging descents and climbs that have a mountain-bike feel.

Pauwels surged through the field to grab his second third-place finish of the weekend. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Namur. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

The rutted off-camber is one of the most memorable sections at Namur. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Namur. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Both Elite races at Namur in 2016 were pretty darn good. Katerina Nash (Clif Pro Team) topped Sophie de Boer (Parkhotel Valkenburg – Destil Cycling Team) in a thrilling last-lap battle.

World Cup leader Sophie de Boer and Katerina Nash battle for the best line at the 2016 Namur UCI Cyclocross World Cup - Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

World Cup leader Sophie de Boer and Katerina Nash battle for the best line at the 2016 Namur UCI Cyclocross World Cup – Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) outdueled Wout van Aert (Crelan-Charles) in the bell lap back when the “Beautiful Duels” were more frequent.

Mathieu van der Poel chase Wout van Aert. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Namur. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert engaged in a last-lap battle in 2016. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Namur. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Replays of both races are worth checking out if you need some trainer or idle time viewing material. Make sure to turn the sound up on the Women’s race for the commentary of Helen Wyman.

If you are looking for some added excitement for the racing, Namur is still seeking its first three-time champion. Nash won in 2016 and 2014, Katie Compton (KFC Racing p/b Trek/Knight Composites) in 2012 and 2013, Van der Poel in 2015 and 2016 and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) in 2012 and 2014.

Start lists for all races are below. There are a total of 19 Americans. 20 British, 4 Australian and 3 Canadian riders spread across the 4 races.

Namur is part of the EuroCrossCamp December block, so a number of young American riders will be racing. The Junior Men’s race will feature Lane Maher (HotTubes), Sam Noel (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com Devo), Greg Gunsalus (AP Junior Devo p/b Corner Cycle), Torin Bickmore (Boulder Junior Cycling) and Dillon McNeill (Trek Cyclocross Collective). Conor Martin (Garneau-Easton p/b Transitions LifeCare) will be racing for Team Canada.

Maher finds his line. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Junior Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Lane Maher will be in Namur again in 2017. 2016 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Junior Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

The U23 Men’s contingent includes Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle – Groove Subaru), Spencer Petrov (Aspire Racing) and Cooper Willsey (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com). Tom Pidcock (Telenet Fidea Lions) leads the British team that also includes Ben Turner (Beobank-Corendon) and Dan Tulett.

Cooper Willsey navigates the tricky off-camber. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Cooper Willsey also raced at Namur in 2016. He will be back again in 2017. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

The Women’s start list suggests another great race is in order. Nineteen of the top twenty women in the UCI rankings are on the start list. They are joined by Sunday’s winner Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon SRAM) and defending mountain bike World Champion Yolanda Neff (Kross Racing Team), among others.

A couple names worth watching in the Men’s race include 2013 Namur winner Francis Mourey, who has mostly been racing the EKZ and French national series, and three-time podium finisher Klaas Vantornout (Marlux-Napoleon Games), who will be storming the Citadel of Namur for the last time.

Women's Start List: 2017 Namur World Cup

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1CANT Sanne
BEL1
2VAN LOY Ellen
BEL4
3*VERDONSCHOT Laura
BEL15
4SELS Loes
BEL18
5VANDERBEKEN Joyce
BEL28
6VERSCHUEREN Jolien
BEL29
7VERHESTRAETEN Karen
BEL45
8VAN DE STEENE Kim
BEL58
9COMPTON Katherine
USA11
10KEOUGH Kaitlin
USA3
11NOBLE Ellen
USA12
12*WHITE Emma
USA20
13ANDERSON Elle
USA25
14FAHRINGER Rebecca
USA27
15MALIK Jennifer
USA83
16VARDAROS Christine
USA343
17MANI Caroline
FRA14
18PETIT Marlene
FRA42
19*WIEL Jade
FRA44
20DELHAYE Pauline
FRA66
21*NORBERT RIBEROLLE Marion
FRA97
22STUMPF Fanny
FRA99
23FERRAND PREVOT Pauline
FRA121
24GRIMAULT Anais
FRA143
25FERRIER BRUNEAU Christel
CAN36
26ROCHETTE Maghalie
CAN23
27BRAMMEIER Nikki
GBR9
28WYMAN Helen
GBR10
29*RICHARDS Evie
GBR48
30*JAMES Ffion
GBR52
31CRUMPTON Bethany
GBR53
32*KAY Anna
GBR127
33*THACKRAY Sophie
GBR154
34*WADSWORTH Emily
GBR209
35MAJERUS Christine
LUX17
36DE BOER Sophie
NED6
37KAPTHEIJNS Maud
NED8
38BRAND Lucinda
NED13
39WORST Annemarie
NED19
40*DEL CARMEN ALVARADO Ceylin
NED31
41*BAKKER Manon
NED35
42*VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge
NED47
43*NAGENGAST Fleur
NED54
S 44*KASTELIJN Yara
NED67
S 45BETSEMA Denise
NED85
46*BASTERRA ASPE Andere
ESP
47*LARTITEGI ORMAZABAL Amaia
ESP
48REDMOND Natalie
AUS119
49RIEDEL Stacey
AUS149
50HAVLIKOVA Pavla
CZE16
51NASH Katerina
CZE2
52*NOSKOVA Nikola
CZE26
53*SAFAROVA Adela
CZE76
54*UNGERMANOVA Elizabeth
CZE84
55LECHNER Eva
ITA5
56ARZUFFI Alice Maria
ITA24
57*TEOCCHI Chiara
ITA40
58*BARONI Francesca
ITA57
59MICHIELETTO Giovanna
ITA276
60HECKMANN Lisa
GER124
61BRANDAU Elisabeth
GER
62*HEIGL Nadja
AUT30
63NEFF Jolanda
SUI93
64*RÜEGG Noemi
SUI140
65*BARHOUMI Zina
SUI197

Men's Start List: 2017 Namur World Cup

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1 VAN AERT Wout BEL 2
2 PAUWELS Kevin BEL 3
3 SWEECK Laurens BEL 6
4 AERTS Toon BEL 7
5 VANTHOURENHOUT Michael BEL 8
6 MERLIER Tim BEL10
7 HERMANS Quinten BEL11
8 MEEUSEN Tom BEL12
9 VERMEERSCH Gianni BEL16
10 SOETE Daan BEL17
11 BAESTAENS Vincent BEL23
12 ADAMS Jens BEL25
13 AERNOUTS Jim BEL29
14 CLEPPE Nicolas BEL31
15 VANTORNOUT Klaas BEL34
16 SWEECK Diether BEL42
17 VANTHOURENHOUT Dieter BEL51
18 VAN DER POEL Mathieu NED1
19 VAN KESSEL Corne NED4
20VAN DER HAAR LarsNED5
21VAN DER POEL DavidNED14
22GODRIE StanNED47
23VAN LEEUWEN Patrick
NED82
24VAN DEN BRAND Twan
NED101
25VAN DER MEER Gosse
NED152
S 26VAN AMERONGEN Thijs
NED76
27BOROS Michael
CZE15
28CHAINEL Steve
FRA28
29BOULO Matthieu
FRA37
30CANAL Fabien
FRA49
31MOUREY Francis
FRA61
32FALENTA Alois
FRA69
33PERIOU Tony
FRA105
34MENUT DavidFRA270
35 PRUVOT Nicolas FRA356
36 HYDE StephenUSA13
37 DURRIN JeremyUSA108
38 JUILIANO AndrewUSA227
39 ESTEBAN AGUERO Ismael ESP44
40 SUAREZ FERNANDEZ KevinESP75
41 BERTOLINI Gioele ITA33
42 SAMPARISI Lorenzo ITA84
43 SAMPARISI NicolasITA92
44 FONTANA Marco AurelioITA151
45 MEISEN Marcel GER9
46 WEBER Sascha GER40
47 KURSCHAT WolframGER357
48 SCHMIDT MarvinGER368
49 MAYER YannickGER467
50 LEHRIAN MarcelGER
51 RIECKMANN Tim GER
52 HARING Martin SVK32
53 FIELD Ian GBR38
54FERGUSON GrantGBR195
55ERIKSSON MartinSWE103
56JANSSON HenrikSWE115
57DROBISCH TillNAM
58MILLBURN GarryAUS71
59WILDHABER MarcelSUI20
60SAGESSER SeverinSUI53
61ROHRBACH NicolaSUI41
62FORSTER LarsSUI66
63ZAHNER SimonSUI72

U23 Men's Start List: 2017 Namur World Cup

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1NIEUWENHUIS Joris
NED24
2WOUTERS Sieben
NED58
3VAN DER HEIJDEN Maik
NED87
4DEKKER Jens
NED88
5BAKX Kelvin
NED152
6VAN DER STEGEN Roel
NED508
7VAN DIJKE Koen
NED611
S 8AGTERBERG Kyle
NED
9ISERBYT Eli
BEL19
10AERTS Thijs
BEL36
11PEETERS Yannick
BEL68
12JOSEPH Thomas
BEL95
13VANDEBOSCH Toon
BEL107
14SCHUERMANS Jelle
BEL147
15DUBAU Joshua
FRA73
16DUBAU Lucas
FRA97
17FINE Eddy
FRA104
18BENOIST Antoine
FRA154
19GRAS Yan
FRA219
20DORIGONI Jakob
ITA129
21HECHT Gage
USA46
22PETROV Spencer
USA62
23WILLSEY Cooper
USA91
24MOBIS Maximilian
GER355
25HAHNEL Frederik
GER
26HOLST Felix
GER
27TOUPALIK Adam
CZE56
28SCHUBERT Stepan
CZE350
29SULC Jakub
CZE419
30JARY David
CZE576
S 31KUNT Lukas
CZE592
32CULLELL ESTAPE Jofre
ESP183
33MUNITXA ARRINDA Jon
ESP362
34BELLAN Juraj
150
35ULIK Matej
SVK155
36PIDCOCK Thomas
GBR48
37TURNER Ben
GBR234
38CLACHERTY Frazer
GBR310
39TULETT Daniel
GBR460
40MEIN Thomas
GBR
41ORR Cameron
GBR
42WALKERDEN Ben
AUS213
43CONROY David
IRL490
44LOOCKX Lander
BEL168
45CALUWE Stijn
BEL180
46BEKAERT Yentl
BEL285
47GOEMAN Andreas
BEL517
48VLIEGEN Pieter-Jan
BEL539
49KIELICH Timo
BEL555
S 50ROMBOUTS Seppe
BEL534
51JACOBS Johan
SUI114
52KUHN Kevin
SUI229
53SCHMID Mauro
SUI608
54RÜEGG Timon
SUI162

Junior Men's Start List: 2017 Namur World Cup

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
2TULETT Ben
GBR8
3FLYNN Sean
GBR26
4YOUNG Jenson
GBR98
5MACLEOD Callum
GBR
6BELLENS Jarno
BEL6
7KUYPERS Gerben
BEL14
8VANDEPUTTE Niels
BEL17
9CORTJENS Ryan
BEL25
10VAN DEN EYNDE Vince
BEL32
11VAN DEN BROECK Arno
BEL34
12RIVET Benjamin
FRA22
13DELBOVE Joris
FRA36
14CHARRIN Alois
FRA72
15VALOGNES Thibault
FRA100
16RONHAAR Pim
NED1
17KAMP Ryan
NED4
18HENDRIKX Mees
NED12
19VERBURG Luke
NED18
20ARTZ Bart
NED88
21VREESWIJK Noah
NED97
22VAN DIJKE Tim
NED
S 23BOVEN Lars
NED49
S 24ZIEMERINK Milan
NED52
25MAHER Lane
USA7
26NOEL Sam
USA35
27GUNSALUS Gregory
USA57
28BICKMORE Torin
USA66
29MCNEILL Dillon
USA79
30KOPECKY Tomas
CZE2
31SCHIERL Jakub
CZE9
32MIKSANIK Vladimir
CZE31
33JEZEK Tomas
CZE33
34RIMAN Jakub
CZE55
35STLOUKAL Stepan
S 36HLADIK Josef
CZE37
S 37CECH Martin
CZE105
38WOLLENBERG Tim
GER78
39BOVING Luk Noah
GER
40BRESCHER Leon Eduard
GER
41JUNG Lennart
GER
42RASSMANN Frederik
GER
43TOMKE Pascal
GER
44MARTIN Conor
CAN59
45FONTANA Filippo
ITA28
46COVER Leonardo
ITA30
47TONEATTI Davide
ITA39
48CEOLIN Federico
ITA47
49DALLA VALLE Tommaso
ITA63
50CONCA Loris
ITA96
51ESSER Mik
LUX
52KLUCKERS Arthur
LUX
53ARANA CARRERA Aketza
ESP102
54NIEDERBACH Anton
SWE80
55LINDGREN Emil
SWE107
56GUSTAFSSON Elias
SWE
57DEWULF Maxim
BEL38
58DEJONGHE Len
BEL40
59FERDINANDE Anton
BEL41
60MEEUSSEN Witse
BEL42
61VERVOORT Wout
BEL56
62VERMOOTE Jelle
BEL
S 63GEYSELS Xander
BEL20
64ROUILLER Loris
SUI3
65PREMAND Rémi
SUI
66STEHLI Felix
SUI
67GEES Andrin
SUI