Lars van der Haar Makes it Three in a Row at the Valkenburg World Cup – Updated: Race Report, Video Highlights and Results

VALKENBURG, Netherlands – A fast start by the defending World Cup leader Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) wasn’t enough to keep Lars van der Haar (Giant-Alpecin) from taking control of the race in the second lap on the steep Cauberg run-up to claim the victory at Valkenburg.

Van der Haar rode exceptionally well, railing corners of the muddy off-camber descents to extend his lead to 40 seconds at its height, never once giving the competition a chance to recover. Chasers van Aert, Sven Nys (Crelan AA Drink Team) and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) battled each other through the race but it was too much for Pauwels to maintain, loosing contact with the group in the seventh lap.

This pic says it all! Really happy with my win on the @caubergcyclo! Thanks to all fans, it helped! (©photopress) pic.twitter.com/26r2bESzGb

— Lars van der Haar (@larsvanderhaar) October 18, 2015

Nys and van Aert took turns attempting to erase the time gap but van der Haar rode consistently, holding firm with a 38 second advantage until the very end as the two remaining chasers battled each other for second place.

With that second podium spot on the line, Nys began to play a game of cat and mouse with the younger Belgian rider. In the final lap it seemed inevitable that the veteran would attack from behind, catching van Aert off guard, but a bobble on an off-camber turn gave van Aert the opportunity he needed.

Sensing Nys’ mistake, van Aert threw down everything he had, opening up the decisive gap to hold off Nys and claim second, 24 seconds down on van der Haar. Nys crossed the line ten seconds later with Pauwels and Switzerland’s Julien Taramarcaz (ERA Rea Estate-Murprotec) finishing off the top five.

American Jeremy Powers finished 41st after a fast start with fellow US rider Brian Matter taking 54th. Britain’s Ian Field crossed the line in 27th place and fellow countryman Ben Sumner finished 57th.

See our full 2015 Valkenburg Cyclocross World Cup photo gallery here.

Not a great day for me here in Valkenburg. I don't have any excuses, just a rough day on the bike. Another chance on Tuesday in Woerden!

— Jeremy Powers (@JeremyPowers) October 18, 2015

2015 Valkenburg World Cup Cyclocross Race Elite Men's Results

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result
1	Lars VAN DER HAAR	NED	24	1:05:58
2	Wout VAN AERT	BEL	21	1:06:22
3	Sven NYS	BEL	39	1:06:32
4	Kevin PAUWELS	BEL	31	1:06:57
5	Julien TARAMARCAZ	SUI	28	1:07:38
6	Michael VANTHOURENHOUT	BEL	22	1:07:57
7	Corne VAN KESSEL	NED	24	1:08:03
8	ClŽment VENTURINI	FRA	22	1:08:04
9	Diether SWEECK	BEL	22	1:08:11
10	Laurens SWEECK	BEL	22	1:08:16
11	Marcel MEISEN	GER	26	1:08:23
12	Tim MERLIER	BEL	23	1:08:29
13	Francis MOUREY	FRA	35	1:08:47
14	Thijs VAN AMERONGEN	NED	29	1:08:54
15	Tom MEEUSEN	BEL	27	1:09:16
16	Rob PEETERS	BEL	30	1:09:19
17	Toon AERTS	BEL	22	1:09:22
18	Jens ADAMS	BEL	23	1:09:26
19	Sascha WEBER	GER	27	1:09:31
20	Stan GODRIE	NED	22	1:09:39
21	Niels WUBBEN	NED	27	1:09:48
22	Fabien DOUBEY	FRA	22	1:09:53
23	Vincent BAESTAENS	BEL	26	1:10:03
24	Michael BOROS	CZE	23	1:10:08
25	Gianni VERMEERSCH	BEL	23	1:10:19
26	Marcel WILDHABER	SUI	30	1:10:30
27	Ian FIELD	GBR	29	1:10:41
28	David VAN DER POEL	NED	23	1:11:01
29	Jim AERNOUTS	BEL	26	1:11:03
30	Martin HARING	SVK	29	1:11:14
31	Simon ZAHNER	SUI	32	1:11:19
32	Gert-Jan BOSMAN	NED	23	1:11:37
33	Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ	ESP	36	1:11:46
34	Philipp WALSLEBEN	GER	28	1:11:49
35	Severin SAEGESSER	SUI	23	1:12:05
36	Nicolas SAMPARISI	ITA	23
37	Andreas MOSER	SUI	31
38	Vojtech NIPL	CZE	22
39	Lukas WINTERBERG	SUI	27
40	Josep BETALU	ESP	38
41	Jeremy POWERS	USA	32
42	Lubomir PETRUS	CZE	25
43	Ondrej BAMBULA	CZE	28
44	Marco BIANCO	ITA	33
45	Lorenzo SAMPARISI	ITA	22
46	Yu TAKENOUCHI	JPN	27
47	Patrick VAN LEEUWEN	NED	30
48	Mariusz GIL	POL	32
49	Michael WILDHABER	SUI	25
50	Alois FALENTA	FRA	26
51	Kenneth HANSEN	DEN	24
52	Jakub SKALA	CZE	22
53	Vladimir KYZIVAT	CZE	33
54	Brian MATTER	USA	37
55	Yannick MAYER	GER	24
56	Michal MALêK	CZE	26
57	Ben SUMNER	GBR	22
58	Joachim PARBO	DEN	41
59	Gusty BAUSCH	LUX	35
60	Martin ERIKSSON	SWE	23
61	Vincent DIAS DOS SANTOS	LUX	25
62	Roland SIEGBERT	GER	33
63	Oriol DOMENECH	ESP	24
64	Patrick LECHNER	GER	27
DNF	Steve CHAINEL	FRA	32
DNF	Radomir SIMUNEK	CZE	32
DNS	Klaas VANTORNOUT	BEL	33