The Hoogerheide World Cup brought a number of North American U23 and Junior riders to Europe a bit early to get their Euro legs under them ahead of next weekend’s World Championships in Valkenburg-Limburg.
Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle – Groove Subaru) bounced back after his flat-marred Nationals and led the U.S. contingent in the U23 race with a 12th-place finish.
‘Merica. 2018 Hoogerheide World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Spencer Petrov (Aspire Racing) had an impressive ride as well, finishing 17th. Eric Brunner (Evol Elite Racing) took 24th, Denzel Stephenson (Evol Elite Racing) 35th and Maxx Chance (Evol Elite Racing) 36th. Canadian Nicholas Diniz finished 43rd.
After a tough go during the two World Cups during his last European trip, Ben Gomez Villafane (Top Club Cyclocross) built on his Nationals win with a 13th-place finish at Hoogerheide.
Ben Gomez Villafane got a nice coating of mud for his eforts at Hoogerheide. 2018 Hoogerheide World Cup, Junior Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Scott Funston (Rad Racing NW) continued his strong racing with an 18th-place finish, Sam Noel (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) took 30th, Lane Maher (Hot Tubes Devo) 35th, Calder Wood (Rad Racing NW) 52nd and Alex Morton (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld), who missed Nationals with an injury, 53rd.
For the Canadians, Tyler Clark (Killington Mountain School) took 19th, Conor Martin (Garneau-Easton p/b Transitions LifeCare) 37th, Dylan Kerr (Angry Johnny’s Evolution p/b Norco and Horseshoe Resort) 39th and Paul Mysko (Centurion Next Wave) 55th.
Full U23 and Junior results and photos from Bart Hazen are below. If you missed Sunday’s races, you can read our Women’s and Men’s race reports.
Bart Hazen Photo Gallery: 2018 Hoogerheide World Cup U23 and Juniors
Gage Hecht and Tom Pidcock chat before the race. 2018 Hoogerheide World Cup, U23 Men. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
