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Cyclocross’ Kerstperiode is the block of races that fall around Christmas and New Year’s. As Helen Wyman noted in her most recent diary, Belgium’s Kerstperiode means racing. A lot.

Riders will be busy during the next week and a half, with opportunities to race nearly every other day. The Kerstperiode racing gets underway early with Saturday’s Waaslandcross in Sint-Niklaas and then continues on Tuesday, Boxing Day, with World Cup Zolder. Thursday’s Azencross, Saturday’s Superprestige Diegem and Monday’s GP Sven Nys then follow. There is also Frday’s Brico Cross Bingoalcyclocross. Phew!

World Cup Zolder on Tuesday

The cyclocross race in Zolder is held on the grounds of the Circuit Zolder motor speedway. Cyclocross was first held at Zolder in 2000, the event became a World Cup in 2009 and the venue also hosted the World Championships in 2016. The race is also called the GP Erik de Vlaeminck, in honor of the seven-time world champion.

The Women’s race at Zolder has been dominated by Marianne Vos (Waowdeals Pro Cycling), who has won the race six times since it was first held in 2008. Like De Vlaeminck, Vos also has seven Worlds titles. The only other two winners are Katie Compton (KFC Racing p/b Trek/Knight Composites), who has won twice, and Sanne Cant (Beobank-Corendon).

The climbs were where Marianne Vos was supreme. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup, Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Marianne Vos won at Zolder last year. She has won the race six times. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup, Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

The Men’s race will feature four former winners: Wout van Aert (Crelan-Charles), Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon), Lars van der Haar (Telenet Fidea Lions) and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux – Napoleon Games).

Wout van Aert took his first World Cup since Jingle Cross. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Wout van Aert won at Zolder in 2016. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

World Cup Zolder will also feature a number of North American riders. The start lists include 18 Americans and 13 Canadians spread across the four races. Notable additions to the Elites we saw race at Namur include Dr. Zjilbert Sunny Gilbert (Van Dessel Factory Racing) and Canadian Geoff Kabush (SCOTT Sports – Maxxis).

Geoff Kabush rode strong to 2nd place. © Randy Lewis/lewisimages

Canadian Geoff Kabush is one of the riders who will be starting in the Men’s Elite race. © Randy Lewis/lewisimages

The young U.S. EuroCrossCamp attendees will be at Zolder, and they will be joined by Canadians Tyler Clark (KMS Cycling – Killington Mountain School), Dylan Kerr (Angry Johnny’s Evolution p/b Norco and Horseshoe Resort, Conor Martin (Garneau-Easton p/b Transitions LifeCare) and Colton Woods (Trek Store CC).

Full start lists for all races are below.

Waaslandcross in Sint-Niklaas on Saturday

A number of U.S. riders will be racing on Saturday at Waaslandcross in Sint-Niklaas. The Women’s Elite race features a number of U.S. riders:

  • Elle Anderson (Cycling.be – Alphamotorhomes Ladies)
  • Corey Coogan Cisek (The Fix Studio)
  • Rebecca Fahringer (Stan’s NoTubes p/b Maxxis/gofahr
  • Jennifer Malik (American Classic)
  • Natalie Tapias (JAM / NCC)
  • Emma White (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com

U23 EuroCrossCamp attendees Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle – Groove Subaru) and Cooper Willsey (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) will get the chance to race with the proverbial “big boys” in the Elite Men’s race.

The U23 and Junior Men EuroCrossCampers will also be racing at Sint-Niklaas. They include:

  • Torin Bickmore (Boulder Junior Cycling)
  • Greg Gunsalus (AP Junior Devo p/b Corner Cycle)
  • Lane Maher (Hot Tubes Devo)
  • Dillon McNeill (Trek Cyclocross Collective)
  • Sam Noel (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com

Women's Start List: 2017 World Cup Zolder

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1CANT Sanne
BEL1
2VAN LOY Ellen
BEL5
3*VERDONSCHOT LauraBEL17
4SELS Loes
BEL18
5VANDERBEKEN Joyce
BEL30
6VERSCHUEREN Jolien
BEL33
7VERHESTRAETEN Karen
BEL46
8VAN DE STEENE Kim
BEL54
9COMPTON Katherine
USA9
10KEOUGH Kaitlin
USA3
11*WHITE Emma
USA20
12ANDERSON Elle
USA24
13FAHRINGER Rebecca
USA26
14GILBERT Sunny
USA43
15MALIK Jennifer
USA85
16VARDAROS Christine
USA398
17MANI Caroline
FRA13
18PETIT Marlene
FRA40
19*WIEL Jade
FRA42
20DELHAYE Pauline
FRA65
21FERRAND PREVOT Pauline
FRA70
22*NORBERT RIBEROLLE Marion
FRA88
23STUMPF Fanny
FRA112
24MENUT Audrey
FRA217
25FERRIER BRUNEAU Christel
CAN36
26ROCHETTE Maghalie
CAN22
27*KELLY Siobhan
CAN173
28*VALLIERES MILL Magdeleine
CAN435
29CONEY Helena
CAN
30BRAMMEIER Nikki
GBR7
31WYMAN Helen
GBR11
32*MELLOR Amira
GBR80
33*KAY Anna
GBR122
34*WADSWORTH Emily
GBR196
35MAJERUS Christine
LUX19
36VOS Marianne
NED6
37DE BOER SophieNED8
38KAPTHEIJNS Maud
NED10
39BRAND Lucinda
NED14
40WORST Annemarie
NED15
41*DEL CARMEN ALVARADO Ceylin
NED28
42*BAKKER Manon
NED37
43*VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge
NED45
44*NAGENGAST Fleur
NED50
S 45*KASTELIJN Yara
NED75
S 46BETSEMA Denise
NED84
47GONZALEZ BLANCO Lucia
ESP27
48*TRABAZO BRAGADO Irene
ESP142
49THRANE Kristina
DEN154
50KLOPPENBURG Margriet
DEN203
51REDMOND Natalie
AUS104
52RIEDEL Stacey
AUS147
53HAVLIKOVA Pavla
CZE16
54NASH Katerina
CZE2
55*NOSKOVA Nikola
CZE29
56*SAFAROVA Adela
CZE72
57*UNGERMANOVA Elizabeth
CZE86
58*MISONOVA Magdalena
CZE91
59*VANICKOVA Tereza
CZE143
60*SVIHALKOVA Tereza
CZE157
S 61*JANU Kamila
CZE248
62LECHNER Eva
ITA4
63ARZUFFI Alice Maria
ITA25
64NEFF Jolanda
SUI66
65HECKMANN Lisa
GER128
66SCHWAGER Mara
GER274
67BRANDAU Elisabeth
GER
68ERNGREN IdaSWE124
69JANSSON IdaSWE150
70VAS Kata BlancaHUN222
71HEIGL NadjaAUT31

Men's Start List: 2017 World Cup Zolder

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1VAN AERT Wout
BEL2
2PAUWELS Kevin
BEL5
3SWEECK Laurens
BEL6
4AERTS Toon
BEL7
5VANTHOURENHOUT Michael
BEL8
6MERLIER Tim
BEL10
7HERMANS Quinten
BEL11
8MEEUSEN Tom
BEL13
9SOETE Daan
BEL15
10VERMEERSCH Gianni
BEL17
11ADAMS Jens
BEL24
12BAESTAENS Vincent
BEL25
13AERNOUTS Jim
BEL28
14CLEPPE Nicolas
BEL30
15BOSMANS Wietse
BEL39
16SWEECK Diether
BEL42
17VANTORNOUT Klaas
BEL43
18VAN DER POEL Mathieu
NED1
19VAN DER HAAR Lars
NED3
20VAN KESSEL Corne
NED4
21VAN DER POEL David
NED14
22GODRIE Stan
NED50
23VAN AMERONGEN Thijs
NED78
24VAN DEN BRAND Twan
NED95
25VAN DER MEER Gosse
NED115
S 26VAN LEEUWEN Patrick
NED84
27WILDHABER Marcel
SUI21
28ZAHNER Simon
SUI22
29SAGESSER Severin
SUI57
30BOROS Michael
CZE16
31PAPRSTKA Tomas
CZE27
32NESVADBA Jan
CZE34
33HUNAL Martin
CZE269
34Steve ChainelFRA23
35BOULO Matthieu
FRA32
36MOUREY Francis
FRA60
37FALENTA Alois
FRA72
38PERIOU Tony
FRA97
39MENUT David
FRA270
40TROPARDY Arthur
FRA318
41PASQUET Audric
FRA
42HYDE Stephen
USA12
43DURRIN Jeremy
USA106
44JUILIANO Andrew
USA219
45ESTEBAN AGUERO Ismael
ESP49
46ORTS LLORET Felipe
ESP20
47RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ Javier
ESP40
48SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Kevin
ESP75
49ANIA GONZALEZ Daniel
ESP423
50BERTOLINI Gioele
ITA31
51SAMPARISI Lorenzo
ITA83
52SAMPARISI Nicolas
ITA88
53HANSEN Kenneth
DEN124
54PARBO Joachim
DEN223
55KABUSH Geoff
CAN159
56DIAS DOS SANTOS Vincent
LUX681
57MEISEN Marcel
GER9
58WEBER Sascha
GER44
59MULLER Manuel
GER262
60KURSCHAT Wolfram
GER313
61SCHMIDT Marvin
GER356
62MAYER Yannick
GER418
63HABLITZEL Jonas
GER500
64THEOBALD Ulrich
GER560
65TAKENOUCHI Yu
JPN113
66HARING Martin
SVK36
67GLAJZA Ondrej
SVK79
68ERIKSSON DavidSWE94
69ERIKSSON MartinSWE100
70JANSSON HenrickSWE110
71MILLBURN GarryAUS70

U23 Men's Start List: 2017 World Cup Zolder

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
1NIEUWENHUIS Joris
NED29
2WOUTERS Sieben
NED52
3VAN DER HEIJDEN Maik
NED87
4DEKKER Jens
NED89
5BAKX Kelvin
NED152
6ARENSMAN Thymen
NED274
7VAN DER STEGEN Roel
NED507
S 8VAN DIJKE Koen
NED613
S 9AGTERBERG Kyle
NED
10ISERBYT Eli
BEL18
11AERTS Thijs
BEL37
12PEETERS Yannick
BEL69
13JOSEPH Thomas
BEL96
14VANDEBOSCH Toon
BEL108
15SCHUERMANS Jelle
BEL127
16DUBAU Joshua
FRA68
17BENOIST Antoine
FRA146
18DORIGONI Jakob
ITA114
19HECHT Gage
USA48
20WILLSEY Cooper
USA92
21JACOBS Johan
SUI117
22KUHN Kevin
SUI228
23LINDENAU Paul
GER442
24ANDRESEN Andreas Lund
DEN203
25SORENSEN Carl Erik Schoulgin
DEN319
26GOTKE Rasmus Wulff Norholm
DEN585
27ERREBO Oliver Emil
DEN
28TOUPALIK Adam
CZE56
29SCHUBERT Stepan
CZE350
30MAYER Daniel
CZE352
31JELINEK Josef
CZE412
32SULC Jakub
CZE420
33JARY David
CZE576
S 34KUNT Lukas
CZE592
35CULLELL ESTAPE Jofre
ESP174
36MUNITXA ARRINDA Jon
ESP362
37BELLAN Juraj
SVK150
38ULIK Matej
SVK153
39KURTY Jakub
SVK261
40SCHREIBER Felix
LUX
41PIDCOCK Thomas
GBR33
42TURNER Ben
GBR231
43LEE Stephen
GBR367
44TULETT Daniel
GBR459
45ROBERTSON Finlay
GBR588
46MEIN Thomas
GBR
47O'DONNELL Trevor
CAN148
48SANDERSON Brody
CAN273
49DINIZ Nicholas
CAN364
50WALKERDEN Ben
AUS218
51SMITH Nicholas
AUS281
52PROSSER Declan
AUS448
53LOOCKX Lander
BEL166
54BEKAERT Yentl
BEL275
55KIELICH Timo
BEL365
56GOEMAN Andreas
BEL515
57ROMBOUTS Seppe
BEL533
58VLIEGEN Pieter-Jan
BEL538
S 59CALUWE Stijn
BEL175

Junior Men's Start List: 2017 World Cup Zolder

BibNameCountryUCI Rank
2TULETT Ben
GBR5
3ASKEY Lewis
GBR46
4YOUNG Jenson
GBR98
5TAYLOR Matthew
GBR109
6MACLEOD Callum
GBR
7BELLENS Jarno
BEL7
8KUYPERS Gerben
BEL14
9CORTJENS Ryan
BEL16
10VANDEPUTTE Niels
BEL19
11FERDINANDE Anton
BEL42
12MEEUSSEN Witse
BEL43
13RIVET Benjamin
FRA24
14DELBOVE Joris
FRA37
15RONHAAR Pim
NED1
16KAMP Ryan
NED4
17HENDRIKX Mees
NED9
18VERBURG Luke
NED20
19ARTZ Bart
NED88
20VREESWIJK Noah
NED97
21VAN DIJKE Tim
NED
S 22BOVEN Lars
NED50
S 23ZIEMERINK Milan
NED54
24MAHER Lane
USA8
25NOEL Sam
USA36
26GUNSALUS Gregory
USA59
27BICKMORE Torin
USA67
28MCNEILL Dillon
USA79
29KOPECKY Tomas
CZE2
30SCHIERL Jakub
CZE10
31TOUPALIK Jakub
CZE17
32MIKSANIK Vladimir
CZE32
33JEZEK Tomas
CZE34
34RIMAN Jakub
CZE57
S 35TOMASEK Alvin
108
S 36STLOUKAL Stepan
CZE
37LINDNER Tom
GER60
38BOCKELMANN Luca
GER
39MARKL Lukas
GER
40TOMKE Pascal
GER
41UHLIG Henri
GER
42WESTHOFF David
GER
S 43UHLIG Oscar
GER
44CLARK Tyler
CAN13
45KERR Dylan
CAN49
46MARTIN Conor
CAN61
47WOODS Colton
CAN114
48FONTANA Filippo
ITA25
49DALLA VALLE Tommaso
ITA65
50HUEZ Emanuele
ITA71
51PRIES Cedric
LUX76
52KESS Nicolas
LUX95
53BETTENDORFF Loic
LUX
54ESSER Mik
LUX
55KLUCKERS Arthur
LUX
56LEYDER Jang
LUX
57INGUANZO MACHO Gonzalo
ESP12
58VAS Balazs
HUN28
59MURAKAMI Koutarou
JPN
60MATTHEWS Alexander
AUS
61LINDGREN Emil
SWE107
62GUSTAFSSON Elias
SWE
63NILSSON Elias
SWE
64GEYSELS Xander
BEL22
65VERVOORT Wout
BEL30
66VAN DEN EYNDE Vince
BEL33
67VAN DEN BROECK Arno
BEL35
68DEWULF Maxim
BEL39
69DEJONGHE LenBEL41