Wout van Aert brought a full matchbook to Dublin, and used every one of them to take his first victory of the season. The Belgian champ overcame a crash, going backwards on the course, and having to sprint back into the lead several times.
However, his win will be most memorable due to a dramatic towel incident.
The Dublin UCI Cyclocross World Cup course was underwhelming at best when first unveiled. Yet we warned fans to not rush to judgment.
We always stay POV cameras never do courses justice and very much hope that that is the case here. The video might be underwhelming but the course might not.
One can only hope Mother Nature plays a major role in making the racing tough and challenging.
The relatively flat course still brought tough racing with a suspenseful final few laps and seven riders in contention.
Lap 2️⃣ and a strong lead group is starting to establish
Vanthourenhout leads for now! #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/akpmvkAY8p
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 11, 2022
Thankfully Mother Nature cooperated with snow and mud, and it made for tough, eventful racing for both the Elite Women and Elite Men. By the time the men hit the course, it was a treacherous mess.
Lap 5️⃣ of 7️⃣ and @tompidcock leads. He applies the pressure as Wout Van Aert joins the back of the group
🔥🔥🔥 #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/9SB7UwdsSg
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 11, 2022
Wout van Aert overcame a slow start, a brief crash, and then an odd incident that stopped him in his tracks and had him heading backwards on the course into the pits.
A mechanic might have “thrown in the towel” so to speak, but Van Aert did not. He turned back, got a new bike, and then hit the turbo, working his way past Jens Adams, Lars van der Haar, Eli Iserbyt, Tom Pidcock, and Laurens Sweeck.
Van Aert hit the sand on the penultimate lap and rode clear of his chasers for his first victory of the season.
👊 @WoutvanAert 👊
"It was a really hard race for me, especially mentally. I had to find my way into the race as I was missing a little bit at the start. When I felt better I then had the mechanical so it was a longggg race" #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/qBcupPzyxQ
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 11, 2022
Men Elite podium 🏆 ⬇️
🥇 @WoutvanAert
🥈 @LaurensSweeck
🥉 @tompidcock #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/jN5pN1SQNY— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 11, 2022
Watch the highlights and final below.
2022 Dublin UCI Cyclocross World Cup Elite Men’s Video Highlights
Full results below.
2022 UCI Cyclocross World Cup Dublin, Ireland Results: Elite Men
| Pos | Bib | Name / UCI Cyclocross Team | NAT | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13 | VAN AERT Wout JUMBO-VISMA | BEL | 59:36 | - |
| 2. | 12 | SWEECK Laurens CRELAN - FRISTADS | BEL | 59:50 | +0:14 |
| 3. | 1 | PIDCOCK Thomas INEOS GRENADIERS | GBR | 59:53 | +0:17 |
| 4. | 24 | VAN DER HAAR Lars BALOISE TREK LIONS | NED | 59:55 | +0:19 |
| 5. | 16 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 59:58 | +0:22 |
| 6. | 6 | ADAMS Jens BELGIUM | BEL | 1:00:09 | +0:33 |
| 7. | 10 | ISERBYT Eli PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL | BEL | 1:00:11 | +0:35 |
| 8. | 23 | RONHAAR Pim BALOISE TREK LIONS | NED | 1:00:13 | +0:37 |
| 9. | 25 | VAN KESSEL Corne TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | NED | 1:00:22 | +0:46 |
| 10. | 3 | MASON Cameron TRINITY RACING CROSS | GBR | 1:00:34 | +0:58 |
| 11. | 28 | KUHN Kevin TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM | SUI | 1:01:05 | +1:29 |
| 12. | 22 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris BALOISE TREK LIONS | NED | 1:01:18 | +1:42 |
| 13. | 17 | WYSEURE Joran CRELAN - FRISTADS | BEL | 1:01:32 | +1:56 |
| 14. | 14 | VANDEBOSCH Toon ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK | BEL | 1:02:02 | +2:26 |
| 15. | 7 | AERTS Thijs BALOISE TREK LIONS | BEL | 1:02:28 | +2:52 |
| 16. | 4 | MEIN Thomas HOPE FACTORY RACING | GBR | 1:02:32 | +2:56 |
| 17. | 15 | VANDEPUTTE Niels ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK | BEL | 1:02:36 | +3:00 |
| 18. | 11 | LOOCKX Lander DESCHACHT-HENS-MAES | BEL | 1:02:39 | +3:03 |
| 19. | 8 | BAESTAENS Vincent BELGIUM | BEL | 1:03:35 | +3:59 |
| 20. | 9 | DOCKX Aaron CRELAN - FRISTADS | BEL | 1:03:42 | +4:06 |
| 21. | 5 | YOUNG Jenson SAINT PIRAN | GBR | 1:04:29 | +4:53 |
| 22. | 19 | CRISPIN Mickaël CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | FRA | 1:05:20 | +5:44 |
| 23. | 2 | BARNES Toby WIV SUNGOD | GBR | 1:05:30 | +5:54 |
| 24. | 26 | VERBURG Luke ABLOC CT | NED | 1:05:39 | +6:03 |
| 25. | 20 | GODRIE Stan NETHERLANDS | NED | 1:06:01 | +6:25 |
| 26. | 34 | HARVEY Dean IRELAND | IRL | 1:06:30 | +6:54 |
| 27. | 29 | MOTTIEZ Gilles CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | SUI | 1:06:56 | +7:20 |
| 28. | 18 | CHAINEL Steve CROSS TEAM LEGENDRE | FRA | 1:07:59 | +8:23 |
| 29. | 38 | MOORE Darnell IRELAND | IRL | 1:08:12 | +8:36 |
| 30. | 33 | DAWSON Christopher IRELAND | IRL | -2 LAP | |
| 31. | 39 | NOLAN Sean EVOPRO RACING | IRL | -3 LAP | |
| 32. | 37 | MEEHAN Jamie IRELAND | IRL | -3 LAP | |
| 33. | 32 | CORKERY Dillon IRELAND | IRL | -3 LAP | |
| 34. | 31 | BARRY Richard IRELAND | IRL | -3 LAP | |
| 35. | 35 | MCCARTER Darragh IRELAND | IRL | -3 LAP | |
| 36. | 36 | MCDERMOTT Frank IRELAND | IRL | -4 LAP | |
| 37. | 30 | QUINCE ANDRES Luis Miguel SPAIN | ESP | -5 LAP | |
| 27 | GARNIER Léo SWITZERLAND | SUI | DNS |
