Van der Haar racing to the win. © Thomas Van Bracht
Valkenburg, Netherlands – Lars Van Der Haar (Rabobank Development Team) proved today that his switch from U23 to the Elite field was the right move as he takes his first major win at the first round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Valkenburg, Netherlands. On the women’s side, Marianne Vos continued her winning ways. [See our race breakdown of the 2013 Valkenburg UCI Cyclocross World Cup.]
Elite Men:
Rain fell lightly as the men’s race got underway, but the sun kept things warm, softening up some of the off-camber sections on the fast course situated around the legendary Cauberg, near the finishing climb of the Amstel Gold Race that was also featured in the 2012 UCI Road World Championships.
Phillipp Walsleben pushes up the run-up. © Thomas van Bracht
The sun was out but day was not without its misfortunes, as current UCI World Champion of Cyclocross Sven Nys (Crelan-Euphony) suffered both a punctured front tire mid-race and a broken chain later on, which forced him to abandon. Second place finisher Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games Cycling Team) also suffered shifting issues and a dropped chain in lap four but managed to hold his position.
German Cyclocross National Champion Philipp Waslsleben (BKCB-Powerplus) battled with Pauwels after catching him in the second half of the race, but was eventually gapped to finish third.
The only American male racer, Jonathan Page, post-race. © Thomas van Bracht
Elite Women:
Vos takes first World Cup win at Valkenburg – 20th October 2013 © Thomas Van Bracht
In the women’s field Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/giant) dominated the race, despite news of an upcoming back surgery, and she created a gap from the start and held on for the win.
By the end of the first lap, Vos had established a 17-second lead over the chase group consisting of US Cyclocross National Champion Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective), European Cyclocross Champion Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team), British Cyclocross National Champion Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) and France’s Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Faren).
Compton coming in for second place. © Thomas van Bracht
Compton managed to separate herself from the chase group in the second lap but by that time, the gap to Vos had increased to 38 seconds. Vos refused to let up, continuing to put pressure on Compton and had increased her lead to 1:35 at the finish.
Nikki Harris on her way to third at Valkenburg World Cup. © Thomas van Bracht
British riders Wyman and Harris battled it out for the third spot on the podium with Harris victorious, finishing 1:52 behind the leader. Wyman and chase group member Ferrier-Bruneau rounded out the top five spots.
Mani was psyched with her result at the World Cup Valkenburg. © Thomas van Bracht
Stay tuned as round two of the Cyclocross World Cup continues on October 26 in Tabor, Czech Republic.
Elite Men Results:
| 1 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | RABOBANK DEVELOPMENT TEAM | 1:02:45 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | PAUWELS Kevin | SUNWEB - NAPOLEON GAMES CYCLING TEAM | +00:20 |
| 3 | WALSLEBEN Philipp | BKCP - POWERPLUS | +00:39 |
| 4 | VANTORNOUT Klaas | SUNWEB - NAPOLEON GAMES CYCLING TEAM | +00:48 |
| 5 | AERNOUTS Bart | AA DRINK CYCLING TEAM | +01:00 |
| 6 | MEEUSEN Tom | TELENET - FIDEA | +01:09 |
| 7 | VAN AMERONGEN Thijs | AA DRINK CYCLING TEAM | +01:20 |
| 8 | FRANZOI Enrico | SELLE ITALIA GUERCIOTTI | +01:31 |
| 9 | WELLENS Bart | TELENET - FIDEA | +01:39 |
| 10 | VAN KESSEL Corne | TELENET - FIDEA | +01:53 |
| 1 | ALBERT Niels | BKCP - POWERPLUS | +01:57 |
| 12 | CANAL Fabien | ASPTT DEFINITIVE TEC | +02:01 |
| 13 | AL Thijs | TELENET - FIDEA | +02:07 |
| 14 | MURGOITIO REKALDE Egoitz | GRUPO HIRUMET TALDEA | +02:13 |
| 15 | PEETERS Rob | TELENET - FIDEA | +02:22 |
| 16 | MEISEN Marcel | KWADRO - STANNAH | +02:27 |
| 17 | WUBBEN Niels | RABOBANK DEVELOPMENT TEAM | +02:29 |
| 18 | ZAHNER Simon | EKZ RACING TEAM | +02:29 |
| 19 | FIELD Ian | HARGROVES CYCLES | +02:40 |
| 20 | VAN DEN BRAND Twan | ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM | +03:03 |
| 21 | GIL Mariusz | KWADRO - STANNAH | +03:07 |
| 22 | HARING Martin | CK BANSKA BYSTRICA | +03:22 |
| 23 | TARAMARCAZ Julien | BMC MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM | +03:41 |
| 24 | BOSMANS Wietse | BKCP - POWERPLUS | +03:46 |
| 25 | PETRUS Lubomir | BKCP - POWERPLUS | +03:50 |
| 26 | BAMBULA Ondrej | CEZ CYKLO TEAM TABOR | +04:00 |
| 27 | PONTA Marco | CENTRO SPORTIVO ESERCITO | +04:04 |
| 28 | WILDHABER Marcel | SCOTT SWISSPOWER MTB RACING TEAM | +04:17 |
| 29 | MOSER Andreas | ZAUNTEAM MITTELLAND | +04:31 |
| 30 | PAGE Jonathan | FUJI - SPY - COMPETITIVE CYCLIST | +04:49 |
| 31 | VAN LEEUWEN Patrick | ORANGE BABIES CYCLING TEAM | -1LAP |
| 32 | WEBER Sascha | TEAM DIFFERDANGE - LOSCH | -1LAP |
| 33 | JOUFFROY Arnaud | TELENET - FIDEA | -1LAP |
| 34 | WINTERBERG Lukas | MG - CYCLING TEAM | -2LAP |
| 35 | HANSEN Kenneth | CANNONDALE - HADERSLEV | -2LAP |
| 36 | RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ Javier | LIZARTE | -2LAP |
| 37 | KYZIVAT Vladimir | JOHNSON CONTROLS AS ML. BOL. | -2LAP |
| 38 | DARVELL Magnus | TEAM KALAS MERIDA | -2LAP |
| 39 | METLICKA Vaclav | JOHNSON CONTROLS AS ML. BOL. | -2LAP |
| 40 | PARBO Joachim | HAMMEL CK | -3LAP |
| 41 | BIANCO Marco | CARRARO TEAM TRENTINO | -3LAP |
| 42 | GOMEZ ELORRIAGA Inigo | BIORACER - CARAVANOS ERANDIO | -3LAP |
| 43 | TAKENOUCHI Yu | COLBA - SUPERANO HAM | -3LAP |
| 44 | GOMEZ ELORRIAGA Jon | BIORACER - CARAVANOS ERANDIO | -3LAP |
| 45 | MAYER Yannick | TEAM BAIER LANDSHUT | -4LAP |
| 46 | EDMOND Angus | -4LAP | |
| 47 | AMBROZIAK Christoph | GUNSHA RACING TEAM | -5LAP |
Elite Women Results:
| 1 | Marianne VOS | NED | 37:56:00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Katherine COMPTON | USA | 39:31:00 |
| 3 | Nikki HARRIS | GBR | 39:48:00 |
| 4 | Helen WYMAN | GBR | 40:00:00 |
| 5 | Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAU | FRA | 40:07:00 |
| 6 | Pavla HAVLIKOVA | CZE | 40:16:00 |
| 7 | Ellen VAN LOY | BEL | 40:25:00 |
| 8 | Sanne CANT | BEL | 40:49:00 |
| 9 | Annefleur KALVENHAAR | NED | 41:01:00 |
| 10 | Caroline MANI | FRA | 41:26:00 |
| 11 | Gabriella DURRIN | GBR | 41:26:00 |
| 12 | Lucie CHAINEL-LEFEVRE | FRA | 41:53:00 |
| 13 | Kaitlin ANTONNEAU | USA | 42:01:00 |
| 14 | Elena VALENTINI | ITA | 42:06:00 |
| 15 | Arley KEMMERER | USA | 42:07:00 |
| 16 | Marlne MOREL PETITGIRARD | FRA | 42:25:00 |
| 17 | Meredith MILLER | USA | 42:37:00 |
| 18 | Githa MICHIELS | BEL | 42:40:00 |
| 19 | Alice Maria ARZUFFI | ITA | 42:56:00 |
| 20 | Martina MIKULASKOVA | CZE | 43:18:00 |
| 21 | Jessica LAMBRACHT | GER | 43:21:00 |
| 22 | Sophie DE BOER | NED | 43:22:00 |
| 23 | Yara KASTELIJN | NED | 43:54:00 |
| 24 | Nikola NOSKOVA | CZE | 44:00:00 |
| 25 | Lotte EIKELENBOOM | NED | 44:07:00 |
| 26 | Ayako TOYOOKA | JPN | 44:11:00 |
| 27 | Laura VERDONSCHOT | BEL | 44:26:00 |
| 28 | Esmee OOSTERMAN | NED | 45:01:00 |
| 29 | Karen VERHESTRAETEN | BEL | |
| 30 | Asa Maria ERLANDSSON | SWE | |
| 31 | Lindy VAN ANROOIJ | NED | |
| 32 | Tereza MEDVEDOVA | SVK | |
| 33 | Katrien THIJS | BEL | |
| 34 | Stephanie DE CROOCK | BEL | |
| 35 | Jamie BIERENS | NED | |
| 36 | Margriet Helena KLOPPENBURG | DEN | |
| 37 | Jolien VERSCHUEREN | BEL | |
| 38 | Hannah PAYTON | GBR | |
| 39 | Christine VARDAROS | USA | |
| 40 | Abby-Mae PARKINSON | GBR | |
| 41 | Lana VERBERNE | NED | |
| 42 | Stphanie VAXILLAIRE-DENUIT | FRA |
