Stealing a page from Peter Sagan’s book, Italian Gioele Bertolini punctuated his victory in the U23 Men’s race at the Valkenburg World Cup with a wheelie across the line.
Bertolini’s prowess up the Cauberg proved too much for the always-in-contention Belgian Eli Iserbyt, who made up for a third-row start quite well, dispatching Clément Russo (France) on the last lap.
The steep hills of Valkenburg were favorable to the two American Starters, with both finishing in the top 20: Tobin Ortenblad 17th, and Andrew Dillman in 19th. The lone British starter, Nicholas Barnes, finished in 3oth.
Jappe Jaspers (Belgium) won the Junior race wire-to-wire, besting Jens Dekker (Netherlands) and third-place finisher Seppe Rombouts (Belgium).
Ohio Valley powerhouse Spencer Petrov was the top finishing American, earning an impressive 10th place. Fellow Americans Cameron Beard and Michael Owens finished 14th and 32nd respectively. Great Britain’s deep team was represented well in the race with Daniel Tulett finishing in 16th, Ben Turner 19th, Joshua Waters 38th, Harry Yates 39th and David Barnes 47th.
UCI World Cup Valkenburg U23 and Junior Men’s Photo Gallery and Results
Gioele Bertolini wins both the U23 race at the Valkenbug World Cup, and the award for the coolest finish line salute © Bart Hazen
