While the Namur Elite Men's and Elite Women's World Cup races from the 2016 Namur UCI Cyclocross World Cup were thrillers, the U23 Men's race was no slouch either, especially the race for second.
Watch Joris Nieuwenhuis literally ride away from the field the first time up the climb, leaving others to chase on foot and attempt to stay upright in the battle for second, with a few epic crashes.
Joris Nieuwenhuis was one of the few to ride the climbs early on in the race, and they were invaluable in gaining an early lead. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Quinten Hermans, Thijs Aerts, Clement Russo, World Champ Eli Iserbyt and the almost World Champ Adam Toupalik all took turns at the front of the chase of World Cup leader Nieuwenhuis.
U23 World Champ Eli Iserbyt leads the chase and the battle or silver. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Five Americans took to the start, and while they didn't get much air time in the highlight video above, gpscyclingtour.be posted some amateur video footage from one of Namur's climbs, in which the Americans feature prominently.
See Pan American Champion Curtis White, ahead of World Champion Eli Iserbyt, attack the tough Namur climbs while in the main chase group of leader Joris Nieuwenhuis, with the rest of Americans close behind. White would finish in 17th.
Curtis White had a strong start and finished 17th. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Proudly showing off Team USA colors were Gage Hecht 29th, Cooper Willsey in 32nd, Eric Brunner in 35th, Maxx Chance in 46th. See them all tackle Namur in the video below, with a photo gallery below the results.
First-year U23 Gage Hecht finished 29th. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Stay tuned for full coverage of the Junior Men's race from Namur.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07NfFeXcmos
2016 Namur UCI Cyclocross World Cup Results - U23 Men
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joris NIEUWENHUIS | NED | 21 | 52:51:00 | 100 |
| 2 | Quinten HERMANS | BEL | 22 | 53:43:00 | 60 |
| 3 | Thijs AERTS | BEL | 21 | 53:48:00 | 40 |
| 4 | Clement RUSSO | FRA | 22 | 53:51:00 | 30 |
| 5 | Eli ISERBYT | BEL | 20 | 53:56:00 | 25 |
| 6 | Nicolas CLEPPE | BEL | 22 | 54:04:00 | 20 |
| 7 | Adam TOUPALIK | CZE | 21 | 54:12:00 | 17 |
| 8 | Lucas DUBAU | FRA | 21 | 54:17:00 | 15 |
| 9 | Gioele BERTOLINI | ITA | 22 | 54:28:00 | 12 |
| 10 | Jonas DEGROOTE | BEL | 22 | 54:31:00 | 10 |
| 11 | Yannick PEETERS | BEL | 21 | 54:42:00 | 8 |
| 12 | Nadir COLLEDANI | ITA | 22 | 54:44:00 | 6 |
| 13 | Jakob DORIGONI | ITA | 19 | 54:44:00 | 4 |
| 14 | Felipe ORTS LLORET | ESP | 22 | 54:51:00 | 2 |
| 15 | Kobe GOOSSENS | BEL | 21 | 55:00:00 | 1 |
| 16 | Maik VAN DER HEIJDEN | NED | 20 | 55:07:00 | |
| 17 | Curtis WHITE | USA | 22 | 55:23:00 | |
| 18 | Thomas JOSEPH | BEL | 21 | 55:28:00 | |
| 19 | Jens DEKKER | NED | 19 | 55:57:00 | |
| 20 | Simon ANDREASSEN | DEN | 20 | 56:21:00 | |
| 21 | Joshua DUBAU | FRA | 21 | 56:25:00 | |
| 22 | Niels DERVEAUX | BEL | 20 | 56:29:00 | |
| 23 | Kevin KUHN | SUI | 19 | 56:36:00 | |
| 24 | Wesley FLOREN | NED | 20 | 56:42:00 | |
| 25 | Gosse VAN DER MEER | NED | 22 | 56:55:00 | |
| 26 | Jelle SCHUERMANS | BEL | 21 | 57:00:00 | |
| 27 | Jappe JASPERS | BEL | 19 | 57:13:00 | |
| 28 | Sieben WOUTERS | NED | 21 | 57:16:00 | |
| 29 | Gage HECHT | USA | 19 | 57:54:00 | |
| 30 | Lander LOOCKX | BEL | 20 | 57:55:00 | |
| 31 | Seppe ROMBOUTS | BEL | 19 | 58:12:00 | |
| 32 | Cooper WILLSEY | USA | 20 | 58:13:00 | |
| 33 | Lukas MEILER | GER | 22 | ||
| 34 | Frazer CLACHERTY | GBR | 20 | ||
| 35 | Eric BRUNNER | USA | 19 | ||
| 36 | Nicolas PRUVOT | FRA | 22 | ||
| 37 | Matej ULIK | SVK | 20 | ||
| 38 | Roel VAN DER STEGEN | NED | 20 | ||
| 39 | Johan JACOBS | SUI | 20 | ||
| 40 | Daniel MAYER | CZE | 20 | ||
| 41 | David CONROY | IRL | 19 | ||
| 42 | David JARY | CZE | 19 | ||
| 43 | Jonas BREZINA | CZE | 19 | ||
| 44 | David ERIKSSON | SWE | 22 | ||
| 45 | Paul LINDENAU | GER | 21 | ||
| 46 | Maxx CHANCE | USA | 21 | ||
| 47 | Jokin ALBERDI MENDIZABAL | ESP | 19 | ||
| 48 | Jon MUNITXA ARRINDA | ESP | 21 | ||
| 49 | Noah FRIES | LUX | 19 | ||
| 50 | Martin MEILER | GER | 19 | ||
| 51 | Simon VOZAR | SVK | 22 | ||
| 52 | Andreas Lund ANDRESEN | DEN | 19 | ||
| 53 | Luc WEIS | LUX | 19 |
2016 Namur UCI Cyclocross World Cup U23 Men Photo Gallery:
Van der Heijden tripods to avoid sliding down the rutted off-camber. 2016 Namur Cyclocross World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
