Update: See the full report, photos and results from the 2016 Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup Elite Men’s race here.
Wout van Aert returned to the Heusden-Zolder venue where he won his 2016 World Championship title, and found the redesigned course still to his liking. Van Aert had a fast start and didn’t look back, quickly shedding riders and heading off on a long solo ride.
Fans hoping for another Mathieu van der Poel duel were disappointed. The Dutch star had a slow start, moved up to third, but then fell back due to a mechanical.
Lauren Sweeck had his best-ever World Cup in second, with Kevin Pauwels yet again moving up after a slow start to finish third.
What a victory for @WoutvanAert in #Zolder! We are waiting for you in #Fiuggi! #TelenetUCICXWC pic.twitter.com/Owb341yVyY
— FiuggiCyclocross (@FiuggiCross) December 26, 2016
Stephen Hyde was the lone American, landing in the top 20 in 18th, just over 3 minutes back of Van Aert.
See the full report, results and photos from the 2016 Zolder World Cup here.
2016 Heusden-Zolder World Cup Results - Elite Men
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wout VAN AERT | BEL | 23 | 1:05:22 | 200 |
| 2 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | 24 | 1:06:32 | 160 |
| 3 | Kevin PAUWELS | BEL | 33 | 1:07:03 | 140 |
| 4 | Toon AERTS | BEL | 24 | 1:07:03 | 120 |
| 5 | Tom MEEUSEN | BEL | 29 | 1:07:19 | 110 |
| 6 | Michael VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 24 | 1:07:23 | 100 |
| 7 | Tim MERLIER | BEL | 25 | 1:07:25 | 90 |
| 8 | Jens ADAMS | BEL | 25 | 1:07:25 | 80 |
| 9 | Corne VAN KESSEL | NED | 26 | 1:07:43 | 70 |
| 10 | David VAN DER POEL | NED | 25 | 1:07:47 | 60 |
| 11 | Lars BOOM | NED | 32 | 1:07:50 | 58 |
| 12 | Clement VENTURINI | FRA | 24 | 1:07:51 | 56 |
| 13 | Michael BOROS | CZE | 25 | 1:08:05 | 54 |
| 14 | Mathieu VAN DER POEL | NED | 22 | 1:08:11 | 52 |
| 15 | Marcel MEISEN | GER | 28 | 1:08:18 | 50 |
| 16 | Daan SOETE | BEL | 23 | 1:08:22 | 48 |
| 17 | Jim AERNOUTS | BEL | 28 | 1:08:30 | 46 |
| 18 | Stephen HYDE | USA | 30 | 1:08:33 | 44 |
| 19 | Philipp WALSLEBEN | GER | 30 | 1:08:59 | 42 |
| 20 | Stan GODRIE | NED | 24 | 1:09:04 | 40 |
| 21 | Marcel WILDHABER | SUI | 32 | 1:09:18 | 39 |
| 22 | Sascha WEBER | GER | 29 | 1:09:36 | 38 |
| 23 | Thijs VAN AMERONGEN | NED | 31 | 1:09:39 | 37 |
| 24 | Ismael ESTEBAN AGUANDO | ESP | 34 | 1:09:43 | 36 |
| 25 | Simon ZAHNER | SUI | 34 | 1:09:54 | 35 |
| 26 | Rob PEETERS | BEL | 32 | 1:09:55 | 34 |
| 27 | Javier RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBAÑEZ | ESP | 38 | 1:09:56 | 33 |
| 28 | Steve CHAINEL | FRA | 34 | 1:10:07 | 32 |
| 29 | Martin HARING | SVK | 31 | 1:10:09 | 31 |
| 30 | Daan HOEYBERGHS | BEL | 23 | 1:10:11 | 30 |
| 31 | Lars VAN DER HAAR | NED | 26 | 1:10:24 | 29 |
| 32 | Patrick VAN LEEUWEN | NED | 32 | 1:10:42 | 28 |
| 33 | Luca BRAIDOT | ITA | 26 | 1:10:44 | 27 |
| 34 | Alois FALENTA | FRA | 28 | 1:10:54 | 26 |
| 35 | Tomas PAPRSTKA | CZE | 25 | 1:11:05 | 25 |
| 36 | Julien TARAMARCAZ | SUI | 30 | 1:11:09 | 24 |
| 37 | Vincent BAESTAENS | BEL | 28 | 1:11:17 | 23 |
| 38 | Matthieu BOULO | FRA | 28 | 1:11:19 | 22 |
| 39 | Aitor HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ | ESP | 35 | 1:11:27 | 21 |
| 40 | Melvin RULLIERE | FRA | 28 | 1:11:40 | 20 |
| 41 | Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 32 | 1:11:57 | 19 |
| 42 | Geoff KABUSH | CAN | 40 | 18 | |
| 43 | Lorenzo SAMPARISI | ITA | 24 | 17 | |
| 44 | Kevin SUAREZ FERNANDEZ | ESP | 23 | 16 | |
| 45 | Yoann CORBIHAN | FRA | 29 | 15 | |
| 46 | Ian FIELD | GBR | 31 | 14 | |
| 47 | Kenneth HANSEN | DEN | 26 | 13 | |
| 48 | Diether SWEECK | BEL | 24 | 12 | |
| 49 | Anthonin DIDIER | FRA | 24 | 11 | |
| 50 | Nicolas SAMPARISI | ITA | 25 | 10 | |
| 51 | Michal MALÍK | CZE | 28 | 5 | |
| 52 | Daniele BRAIDOT | ITA | 26 | 5 | |
| 53 | Flavien DASSONVILLE | FRA | 26 | 5 | |
| 54 | Gusty BAUSCH | LUX | 37 | 5 | |
| 55 | Marvin SCHMIDT | GER | 25 | 5 | |
| 56 | Martin ERIKSSON | SWE | 25 | 5 | |
| 57 | Mark MCCONNELL | CAN | 29 | 5 | |
| 58 | Wolfram KURSCHAT | GER | 42 | 5 | |
| 59 | Pit SCHLECHTER | LUX | 27 | 5 | |
| 60 | Scott THILTGES | LUX | 25 | 5 | |
| 61 | Pol WEISGERBER | LUX | 28 | 5 | |
| 62 | DANIEL ANIA GONZALEZ | ESP | 30 | 5 | |
| 63 | Philipp BÜTZOW | LUX | 30 | 5 |
