Meeusen takes the win. © Bart Hazen
by Bart Hazen
Before the Nys’ and van den Brands of the ‘cross world took the stage in Gieten, the Juniors and U23 riders had their moment to shine. The younger riders did not disappoint with exciting races in the muddy conditions. US riders were represented well in the races with Chris Wallace, Zach McDonald and Brandon Mart racing at Gieten.
Juniors – Brief Report
Mike Teunissen took the holeshot and kept the early lead through most of the race. David van der Poel didn’t have a great start but fought back and joined Teunissen with less than two laps to go. In the sprint for the win Van der Poel took the win over Teunissen. Emiel Dolfsma finished third. Teunissen now leads the Superprestige rankings after 5 races with 61 points. Van der Poel is second with 58 points and Michiel van der Heijden is third at 57 points. US racer Chris Wallace finished on the lead lap in 36th.
U23 – Brief Report
BKCP’s Lubomir Petrus took the holeshot followed by Tom Meeusen, Jim Aernouts, Kenneth van Compernolle and Jan Denuwelaere. Tom Meeusen took over during the second lap, followed by Aernouts and Van Compernolle. Van Compernolle tried to shake his companions and joined the company of Meeusen, Aernouts and Kacper Szcepaniak. From then on, Meeusen made it a hard race and only the surprising Polish rider Kacper Szcepaniak was able to follow.
Kenneth van Compernolle, the winner of this race in 2008, was part of the initial break but was eventually dropped. In the final two laps of the race Szcepaniak fell off the pace and Meeusen, the Belgian of the Telenet-Fidea squad, could add another race to his impressive U23 palmares. US Champion Zach McDonald raced well, finishing 23rd.
Full Results – Juniors
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Result |
| 1 | David VAN DER POEL | NED | 41:10:00 |
| 2 | Mike TEUNISSEN | NED | 41:10:00 |
| 3 | Emiel DOLFSMA | NED | 41:22:00 |
| 4 | Gianni VERMEERSCH | BEL | 41:35:00 |
| 5 | Danny VAN POPPEL | NED | 42:05:00 |
| 6 | Michiel VAN DER HEIJDEN | NED | 42:14:00 |
| 7 | Gert-Jan BOSMAN | NED | 42:30:00 |
| 8 | Xandro MEURISSE | BEL | 42:30:00 |
| 9 | Jon Ander INSAUSTI | ESP | 42:30:00 |
| 10 | Jesper BAELEN | BEL | 42:37:00 |
| 11 | Jeroen MEIJERS | NED | 42:49:00 |
| 12 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | 42:54:00 |
| 13 | Douwe VERBERNE | NED | 43:26:00 |
| 14 | Dennis HEERING | NED | 43:33:00 |
| 15 | Robin WENNEKERS | NED | 43:42:00 |
| 16 | Twan BRUSSELMAN | NED | 44:05:00 |
| 17 | Stan GODRIE | NED | 44:12:00 |
| 18 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | 44:12:00 |
| 19 | Elmar REINDERS | NED | 44:20:00 |
| 20 | Hendrik SWEECK | BEL | 44:20:00 |
| 21 | Maxim PANIS | BEL | 44:31:00 |
| 22 | Tobias DEPRIE | GER | 44:43:00 |
| 23 | Michael VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 45:02:00 |
| 24 | Julian LEHMANN | GER | 45:08:00 |
| 25 | Kay WELTEN | NED | 45:15:00 |
| 26 | Kenny KASTELIJN | NED | 45:20:00 |
| 27 | Joey VAN RHEE | NED | 45:36:00 |
| 28 | Eelke VAN DER HORST | NED | 45:50:00 |
| 29 | Dennis STULTIENS | NED | 45:55:00 |
| 30 | Davey KLEINJAN | NED | 46:17:00 |
| 31 | Lukas MÜLLER | SUI | 46:23:00 |
| 32 | Fabian AMMERLAAN | NED | 46:47:00 |
| 33 | Bartosz PILIS | POL | 47:05:00 |
| 34 | Matthias HEINE | GER | 47:28:00 |
| 35 | Jeroen VAN DEN HOUT | NED | 47:38:00 |
| 36 | Chris WALLACE | USA | 47:43:00 |
| 37 | Anne FOKKEMA | NED | 47:48:00 |
| 38 | Dennis EIKELENBOOM | NED | 48:05:00 |
| 39 | Yoeri TON | NED | 48:23:00 |
| 40 | Jaap DE MAN | NED | |
| 41 | Axel DEKKER | NED | |
| 42 | Sebastian DEMEULENAERE | BEL | |
| 43 | Jasper PLENDER | NED | |
| 44 | Bryan BOROWSKI | NED | |
| 45 | Nicolaj HANSEN | DEN | |
| 46 | Roy VAN DEN HOUT | NED | |
| 47 | Felix RIECKMANN | GER | |
| 48 | Lars MARIS | NED | |
| 49 | Lars VAN DER ZIJDEN | NED | |
| 50 | Olaf OUSSOREN | NED | |
| 51 | Rudy BOTTER | NED | |
| 52 | Mads GREGERSEN | DEN | |
| 53 | Bart BUIJK | NED | |
| 54 | Tristan TIMMERMANS | NED | |
| 55 | Bernie DOLFSMA | NED | |
| 56 | Jorian WALS | NED | |
| 57 | Sebastiaan BEYER | GER | |
| 58 | Jelle BOLDING | NED | |
| 59 | Erwin KETELLAPPER | NED | |
| 60 | Bas VLASKAMP | NED |
Full Results – U23
| Rank | Name | Nat | Result | Points |
| 1 | Tom MEEUSEN | BEL | 50:32:00 | 20 |
| 2 | Kacper SZCZEPANIAK | POL | 50:56:00 | 15 |
| 3 | Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE | BEL | 51:24:00 | 12 |
| 4 | Pawel SZCZEPANIAK | POL | 51:40:00 | 10 |
| 5 | Micki VAN EMPEL | NED | 51:45:00 | 8 |
| 6 | Jim AERNOUTS | BEL | 51:55:00 | 5 |
| 7 | Jan DENUWELAER | BEL | 51:55:00 | 4 |
| 8 | Corne VAN KESSEL | NED | 51:55:00 | 3 |
| 9 | Jiri POLNICKY | CZE | 52:03:00 | 2 |
| 10 | Vincent BAESTAENS | BEL | 52:08:00 | 1 |
| 11 | Tijmen EISING | NED | 52:11:00 | |
| 12 | Lars VAN DER HAAR | NED | 52:16:00 | |
| 13 | Lubomir PETRUS | CZE | 52:22:00 | |
| 14 | Stef BODEN | BEL | 52:42:00 | |
| 15 | Kevin EECKHOUT | BEL | 53:00:00 | |
| 16 | Maurits LAMMERTINK | NED | 53:07:00 | |
| 17 | Wietse BOSMANS | BEL | 53:13:00 | |
| 18 | Mitchell HUENDERS | NED | 53:22:00 | |
| 19 | Sascha WEBER | GER | 53:26:00 | |
| 20 | Twan VAN DEN BRAND | NED | 53:30:00 | |
| 21 | Arnaud JOUFFROY | FRA | 53:37:00 | |
| 22 | Ramon SINKELDAM | NED | 53:49:00 | |
| 23 | Zach MC DONALD | USA | 53:55:00 | |
| 24 | Ole QUAST | GER | 54:19:00 | |
| 25 | Jelle BRACKMAN | BEL | 54:28:00 | |
| 26 | Lukas WINTERBERG | SUI | 54:42:00 | |
| 27 | Sven BEELEN | BEL | 55:04:00 | |
| 28 | Edwin ARTS | NED | 55:30:00 | |
| 29 | Kaj SLENTER | NED | 55:55:00 | |
| 30 | Mattias NILSSON | SWE | 56:00:00 | |
| 31 | Kobus HEREIJGERS | NED | 56:12:00 | |
| 32 | Boy VAN POPPEL | NED | 56:17:00 | |
| 33 | Naran KHANGARID | MGL | 56:33:00 | |
| 34 | Dries PAUWELS | BEL | 57:28:00 | |
| 35 | Dario STAUBLE | SUI | ||
| 36 | Barry HAYES | GER | ||
| 37 | Kamil GRADEK | POL | ||
| 38 | Baasankhuu MYAGMARSUREN | MGL | ||
| 39 | Jelmer JUBBEGA | NED | ||
| 40 | Bart BARKHUIS | NED | ||
| 41 | Julian VAN DIJK | NED | ||
| 42 | Gijs STRATING | NED | ||
| 43 | Henk BOS | NED | ||
| 44 | Stefan POUTSMA | NED | ||
| 45 | Brandon MART | USA | ||
| 46 | Dennis VAN BRUGGEN | NED | ||
| 47 | Geert KUIT | NED |
Photo Gallery – Juniors
Photo Gallery – U23
