Koksijde is one of the iconic venues in cyclocross—as Corey Coogan Cisek shared in her latest rider diary—and the seaside dunes did not disappoint in delivering great racing again in 2019.
The dunes of Koksijde are one of the iconic venues in cyclocross. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
As usual, the sand dunes presented a unique challenge and forced riders to really rely on their running legs.
It happens. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
The story of the 2019/20 Elite Women's season thus far has been the dominance of the young Dutch women, and that storyline continued again on Sunday. Ceylin Alvarado (Corendon - Circus), Yara Kastelijn (777), Annemarie Worst (777) and Inge van der Heijden (CCC - Liv) broke off the front early, joined by fellow Dutchwoman Lucinda Brand (Telenet Baloise Lions).
Inge van der Heijden leads the lead group of five Dutch women. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
The five women entered the last lap together before Alvarado ultimately broke away and took the win and her first Elite World Cup gold.
Ceylin Alvarado celebrates her first career Elite World Cup win. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Brand finished a strong second, showing she is on good form heading into December and the coming Kerstperiode.
Lucinda Brand moved up quickly from the third row and finished second. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
In the Elite Men's race, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon - Circus) was behind the eight ball early on after getting caught behind a Tim Merlier (Creafin - Fristads) crash at the end of the holeshot.
Being forced into an impromptu Frank McCormack situation early on was no problem for the World Champ, as he was back at the front with Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) just one lap later (!).
Mathieu van der Poel had the sandy ruts of Koksijde dialed in. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Van der Poel then dropped Sweeck and rolled to his 33rd-straight (!) win.
Sunday's winner Mathieu van der Poel summits the flyover. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
For more from the World Cup Koksijde Elite races, check out the photo gallery from Bart Hazen below.
Photo Gallery: 2019 World Cup Koksijde
Alice Maria Arzuffi uses some Italian to navigate the sand. 2019 World Cup Koksijde. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
