by Dan Seaton
Vorselaar, Belgium – One of the coldest cyclocross seasons on record began to wrap up with the final round of the Superprestige series, fittingly in the snow once again. In the Juniors race, Dutch rider Davd Van Der Poel took a third place finish to lock up the overall Superprestige title, while in the U23’s Tom Meeusen simply outhandled the entire field on a slick, technical course to take his fifth win of the eight-race series and the overall title as well.
Meeusen’s place in the standings was all but assured going into the week, but the U23 standout was nonetheless challenged by Jim Aernouts, who claimed third place at the end of the day. But Meeusen, who proved his skills in bad weather with a third place finish in the Elite Belgian Championships a few weeks ago, once again flashed his technical ability and controlled the race nearly from beginning to end, claiming victory, while Vincent Baestaens eventually managed to hold off Aernouts for second behind him.
In the Juniors, Van Der Poel left the fight for today’s win to Tim Merlier, who took a narrow sprint win over Diether Sweeck. The podium finishes were a surprising capper after a relatively unremarkable showing this season for Melier and Sweeck, neither of whom has stood on the podium at a Superprestige before. Meanwhile, Van Der Poel fought off a late challenge from rising Belgian star Gianni Vermeersch for the final spot on the podium.
Stay tuned to cxmagazine.com for complete results from the Elite’s final stop on the Superprestige Circuit later today.
Juniors – Full Results
| 1 | Tim Merlier (Bel) | 0:40:06 | |
| 2 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) | ||
| 3 | David van der Poel (Bel) | 0:00:39 | |
| 4 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) | ||
| 5 | Joeri Hofman (Bel) | 0:01:04 | |
| 6 | Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) | ||
| 7 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) | 0:01:26 | |
| 8 | Xandro Meurisse (Bel) | ||
| 9 | Hendrik Sweeck (Bel) | 0:01:35 | |
| 10 | Jon Intxausti (Spa) | 0:01:37 | |
| 11 | Douwe Verberne (Ned) | 0:01:55 | |
| 12 | Jens Adams (Bel) | 0:02:06 | |
| 13 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) | 0:02:12 | |
| 14 | Daniel Peeters (Bel) | 0:02:15 | |
| 15 | Maxim Panis (Bel) | 0:03:10 | |
| 16 | Toon Aerts (Bel) | 0:03:30 | |
| 17 | Matthias Ballet (Bel) | 0:03:47 | |
| 18 | Michael Dhondt (Bel) | 0:03:53 | |
| 19 | Nick van Dijke (Ned) | 0:04:10 | |
| 20 | Timo Verschueren (Bel) | ||
| 21 | Joey van Rhee (Ned) | ||
| 22 | Jeffrey Mellemans (Bel) | ||
| 23 | Stef Beyers (Bel) | 0:05:45 | |
| 24 | Niels Verdijck (Bel) | ||
| 25 | Mike Van Aken (Bel) | ||
| 26 | Robin Van den Bruel (Bel) | 0:07:11 | |
| 27 | Stijn Gielen (Bel) | 0:07:20 | |
| 28 | Bryan Borowski (Ned) | 0:07:29 | |
| 29 | Birger Vandael (Bel) | ||
| 30 | Alexander Verslegers (Bel) | ||
| 31 | Ruben Van Dingenen (Bel) | ||
| 32 | Sibe Smets (Bel) |
Overall Classification
| 1 | David van der Poel (Ned) | 86 | pts |
| 2 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) | 78 | |
| 3 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) | 77 | |
| 4 | Michiel van der Heijden (Ned) | 69 | |
| 5 | Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) | 66 | |
| 6 | Jens Adams (Bel) | 62 | |
| 7 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) | 51 | |
| 8 | Danny van Poppel (Ned) | 50 | |
| 9 | Xandro Meurisse (Bel) | 49 | |
| 10 | Emiel Dolfsma (Ned) | 45 | |
| 11 | Tim Merlier (Bel) | 32 | |
| 12 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) | 29 | |
| 13 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) | 27 | |
| 14 | Joeri Hofman (Bel) | 23 | |
| 15 | Jon Intxausti (Spa) | 17 | |
| 16 | Michael Boros (Cze) | 16 | |
| 17 | Emilien Viennet (Fra) | 15 | |
| 18 | Douwe Verberne (Ned) | 14 | |
| 19 | Matej Lasak (Cze) | 13 | |
| 20 | Jesper Baelen (Bel) | 12 | |
| 21 | Bart De Vocht (Bel) | 11 | |
| 22 | Tomâs Paprstka (Cze) | ||
| 23 | Floris De Tier (Bel) | 8 | pts |
| 24 | Hendrik Sweeck (Bel) | 7 | |
| 25 | Stan Godrie (Bel) | ||
| 26 | Jeroen Meijers (Ned) | 5 | pts |
| 27 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) | ||
| 28 | Frederik Geerts (Bel) | 4 | pts |
| 29 | Lars Forster (Swi) | 3 | |
| 30 | Dennis Heering (Ned) | ||
| 31 | Lukas Müller (Swi) | ||
| 32 | Maxim Panis (Bel) | ||
| 33 | Daniel Peeters (Bel) | 2 | pts |
| 34 | Daniel Vesely (Cze) | ||
| 35 | Robin Wennekes (Ned) | 1 |
U23 – Full Results
| 1 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:51:09 | |
| 2 | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 0:00:26 | |
| 3 | Jim Aernouts (Bel) BKCP – Powerplus | 0:01:31 | |
| 4 | Lars van der Haar (Ned) | 0:01:33 | |
| 5 | Mitchell Huenders (Ned) AA Cycling Team | ||
| 6 | Jelle Brackman (Bel) | 0:01:42 | |
| 7 | Tijmen Eising (Ned) | 0:01:48 | |
| 8 | Sven Beelen (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team | 0:01:52 | |
| 9 | Jiri Polnicky (Cze) Empella Czech Team | 0:02:01 | |
| 10 | Pawel Szczepaniak (Pol) LKS Pom Strzelce Krajenskie | 0:02:07 | |
| 11 | Marcel Meisen (Ger) Team Kuota – Indeland | 0:02:09 | |
| 12 | Corné van Kessel (Ned) | ||
| 13 | Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) Vendée U Pays de la Loire | ||
| 14 | Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | ||
| 15 | Micki van Empel (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida | ||
| 16 | Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendement Hypo Cyclingteam VZW | 0:02:56 | |
| 17 | Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 0:03:04 | |
| 18 | Kobus Hereygers (Ned) | 0:03:08 | |
| 19 | Ingmar Uytdewilligen (Bel) | 0:03:24 | |
| 20 | Niels Koyen (Bel) | 0:04:09 | |
| 21 | Vinnie Braet (Bel) | 0:04:15 | |
| 22 | Kevin Eeckhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 0:04:22 | |
| 23 | Kevin Cant (Bel) AVB – Cycling Team | 0:04:26 | |
| 24 | Dries Pauwels (Bel) | 0:04:46 | |
| 25 | Lubomir Petrus (Cze) BKCP – Power Plus | 0:05:15 | |
| 26 | Ritchie Denolf (Bel) | 0:05:32 | |
| 27 | Raf Risbourg (Bel) | 0:06:20 | |
| 28 | Sieën Veestraeten (Bel) | 0:06:45 | |
| 29 | Vincent Van Hooste (Bel) | 0:05:01 | |
| 30 | Jonathan Bervoets (Bel) Heylen Meubelcentrale Zlwc St.Tru | 0:07:39 | |
| 31 | Sonny Volders (Bel) | ||
| 32 | Bart Barkhuis (Ned) (Bel) | ||
| 33 | Edwin Arts (Ned) (Bel) | ||
| 34 | Niels Dirikx (Bel) | ||
| 35 | Kevin Neirynck (Bel) | ||
| 36 | Rutger Lahaye (Bel) | ||
| 37 | Robin Poelvoorde (Bel) | ||
| 38 | Klaas Vankersschaever (Bel) | ||
| 39 | Jean-Baptiste Taleux (Fra) | ||
| 40 | Thomas Verbeek (Bel) | ||
| 41 | Joachim Janssens (Bel) Wk Noord West Brabant |
Overall Classification
| 1 | Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 89 | pts |
| 2 | Jim Aernouts (Bel) BKCP – Powerplus | 70 | |
| 3 | Kenneth Van Compernolle (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | 65 | |
| 4 | Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendement Hypo Cyclingteam VZW | 64 | |
| 5 | Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 62 | |
| 6 | Micki van Empel (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida | 56 | |
| 7 | Robert Gavenda (Svk) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team | 54 | |
| 8 | Lars van der Haar (Ned) | 53 | |
| 9 | Kacper Szczepaniak (Pol) LKS Pom Strzelce Krajenskie | 45 | |
| 10 | Pawel Szczepaniak (Pol) LKS Pom Strzelce Krajenskie | 44 | |
| 11 | Stef Boden (Bel) AA Drink Cycling Team | 35 | |
| 12 | Tijmen Eising (Ned) | 33 | |
| 13 | Mitchell Huenders (Ned) AA Cycling Team | 28 | |
| 14 | Lubomir Petrus (Cze) BKCP – Power Plus | ||
| 15 | Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) Vendée U Pays de la Loire | 24 | pts |
| 16 | Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank | ||
| 17 | Corné van Kessel (Ned) | 19 | pts |
| 18 | Marcel Meisen (Ger) Team Kuota – Indeland | ||
| 19 | Jiri Polnicky (Cze) Empella Czech Team | 18 | pts |
| 20 | Sven Beelen (Bel) Easypay Cyclocross Team | 16 | |
| 21 | Wietse Bosmans (Bel) | 15 | |
| 22 | Kevin Cant (Bel) AVB – Cycling Team | 12 | |
| 23 | Elia Silvestri (Ita) | 11 | |
| 24 | Kevin Eeckhout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor | ||
| 25 | Jelle Brackman (Bel) MTB Dreamteam AArtselAAr | 10 | pts |
| 26 | Sascha Weber (Ger) FC Rheinland-Pfalz Flonheim | 9 | |
| 27 | Twan van den Brand (Ned) Sunweb Revor Cycling Team | 8 | |
| 28 | Matthieu Boulo (Fra) AC Lanester | 7 | |
| 29 | Marek Konwa (Pol) LKS Trasa Zielona Góra | ||
| 30 | Karel Hnik (Cze) | 3 | pts |
| 31 | Vinnie Braet (Bel) | ||
| 32 | Boy van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank | 1 |
