2016 Azencross Loenhout Start Lists – DVV Verzekeringen Trofee – Stybar Returns

Rarely are start lists an actual story, but when two former UCI Cyclocross World Champions now focused on their road careers make an appearance, it captures attention.

Boom is back, and focused on a strong, late cyclocross season. Former Cyclocross World Champ Boom adds in some cyclocross racing to tune up for road season. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup. Elite Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

2007 World Champion Lars Boom is back, and with an impressive, risk-taking move from sixth row to seventh in just a few turns at the World Cup in Zolder, he has shown he’s motivated and taking his shortened cyclocross season seriously. Boom has said his aim is to race through Worlds, and fans can only hope he returns to the form he showed as a young Elite racer to challenge the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert.

Stybar returns to cyclocross at the Azencross Loenhout. photo: Near the end of his incredible ride at Worlds in 2010, with a face full of dirt to prove it. © Joe Sales

Three-time World Champion Zdenek Stybar will also be contesting Azencross Loenhout, although perhaps with less all-or-nothing attitude than Boom. The Czech racer recently said (translated), “I start on the last row and in view of the road season I would also like to [avoid] taking any risks.” Yet he hopes to still put on a show:

“That does not mean that I here will drive around to fifty percent. For an hour I will completely turn on the throttle. It is suffering, but in a fantastic atmosphere. Whether it’s an advantage for me is that it is a dry track? It would be an advantage if the race only lasted half an hour.” -Stybar

Most of the top racers including the current and former World Champions of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Thalita de Jong and Marianne Vos will be lining up.

Vos’ comeback is another headline story. Winning her second and third races in her three-race-old comeback, the seven-time World Champion could prove to be the one to beat, especially if the track proves to be fast and dry.

Vos is the ‘cross boss again. photo: The climbs in Zolder were where Marianne Vos was supreme. 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup, Elite Women. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Americans Sunny Gilbert and Elle Anderson will be two Americans lining up, while Canadian Gunnar Holmgren will line up in the Junior Men’s race.

Fans can expect another suspenseful battle on the women’s side, and hope for another beautiful duel between the two young men’s champions that didn’t materialize in Zolder.

The storied event hosts the infamous pump track rollers, but also has been the site of some pretty intense battles, whether it was between Sven Nys and a beer-throwing fan, or an early battle between then-U23 racers Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert back in 2014 showing up the Elite Men. Last year’s four-way sprint to the line on the women’s side was also a memorable race.

See the full start lists below, and stay tuned for our DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series coverage of the Azencross Loenhout race.

2016 Azencross Loenhout Start List - Junior Men

2016 Azencross Loenhout Start List - U23 Men

2016 Azencross Loenhout Start List - Elite Women

2016 Azencross Loenhout Start List - Elite Men