Wout van Aert, shown here early in the season, has struggled to find a win in 2015 over Van der Poel. © Bart Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Cant Takes a Narrow Win over Sels
Crashing last weekend with what looked like a painful shoulder injury appears to have little effect on Sanne Cant’s racing performance, who took both wins this weekend, Saturday at Superprestige Middelkerke, and Sunday at G.P. Eeklo.
Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) is out to bookmark her 2014-15 season with a dominating performance in the early season and again at the last month. At Eeklo, Cant was able to get ahead of Loes Sels (Telenet Fidea) by five seconds, and the two riders had created a sizable gap from the rest of the field. Jolien Verschueren came in almost a minute behind to ensure an all Belgian podium.
Aida Nuno Palacio followed in for fourth. The Spanish rider, who is annually the national champion although fell short this year, has been quietly building her reputation with an eighth place finish at Superprestige Spa-Francorchamps and consistent top-25 finishes at World Cup events.
British rider Hannah Payton came in for sixth place, and American rider Christine Vardaros finished 12th.
Wout van Aert Gets First Win in A Month
Wout van Aert, who was the rider to look out for in 2014, has struggled to find wins under the shadow of Mathieu van der Poel in 2015. Both of his victories (G.P. Sven Nys and Kasteelcross Zonnebeke) have come when his primary rival wasn’t present at the race. He was able to buck this trend yesterday at G.P. Eeklo as he stood atop a podium over Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb Napoleon Games) and U23 World Champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Sunweb Napoleon Games). Men’s Elite World Champion, Van der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus), came in fifth behind Gianni Vermeersch (Sunweb Napoleon Games).
Jens Adams took the holeshot, but on a fast course that would come to include road tactics, the front wasn’t the best place to sit, and Sven Nys, Vanthourenhout and Van Aert benefited as they drafted close behind.
Several laps in, a group of ten riders formed off the front, which included all the riders at the lead near the holeshot, as well as Pauwels, Laurens Sweeck, Van der Poel, Toon Aerts and Tim Merlier. Van Aert tested the pack’s legs on several occasions, and Nys was one of the first to fall back at the young rider’s pace.
Three young riders of the group, Van Aert, Vermeersch and Vanthourenhout were able to make separation from the others as Van der Poel couldn’t follow in tow. It appeared as if the three would keep away until the finish, except Pauwels made a daring lone assault to bridge back to the leaders. Pauwels, who won yesterday in the Men’s Elite Race at Superprestige Middelkerke, had nearly spent everything he had, and although he was the lone rider to keep pace with Van Aert in the final half lap, the younger rider bested him on the pavement.
Vanthourenhout was in sight of the leaders, and finished seven seconds back. Nys finished ninth, while the holeshot winner Adams crossed the line 11th.
2015 G.P. Eeklo, Elite Women's Race
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | PaR | PcR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanne CANT | BEL | 25 | 1:32:00 | 40 | 40 |
| 2 | Loes SELS | BEL | 30 | 1:32:05 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Jolien VERSCHUEREN | BEL | 25 | 1:32:58 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | Aida NUNO PALACIO | ESP | 32 | 1:34:06 | 15 | 15 |
| 5 | Lisa JACOBS | AUS | 34 | 1:34:52 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | Hannah PAYTON | GBR | 21 | 1:35:05 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Joyce VANDERBEKEN | BEL | 31 | 1:35:40 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | Suzie GODART | LUX | 53 | 1:35:49 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | Katrien THIJS | BEL | 30 | 1:35:56 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Anja NOBUS | BEL | 41 | 1:36:04 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Suzanne VERHOEVEN | NED | 19 | 1:36:06 | ||
| 12 | Christine VARDAROS | USA | 46 | 1:36:20 | ||
| 13 | Kim VAN DE STEENE | BEL | 29 | 1:36:23 | ||
| 14 | Anja GELDHOF | BEL | 42 | |||
| 15 | Ynske VAN TICHELT | BEL | 19 | |||
| 16 | Jana DOBBELAERE | BEL | 19 | |||
| 17 | Jo BLANCHAERT | BEL | 45 | |||
| 18 | Cindy DIERICX | BEL | 41 |
2015 G.P. Eeklo, Elite Men's Race
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | PaR | PcR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wout VAN AERT | BEL | 21 | 1:04:17 | 40 | 40 |
| 2 | Kevin PAUWELS | BEL | 31 | 1:04:21 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Michael VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 22 | 1:04:28 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | Gianni VERMEERSCH | BEL | 23 | 1:04:39 | 15 | 15 |
| 5 | Mathieu VAN DER POEL | NED | 20 | 1:04:48 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | Laurens SWEECK | BEL | 22 | 1:04:53 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Tim MERLIER | BEL | 23 | 1:05:07 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | Toon AERTS | BEL | 22 | 1:05:22 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | Sven NYS | BEL | 39 | 1:05:26 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Joeri ADAMS | BEL | 26 | 1:06:10 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Jens ADAMS | BEL | 23 | 1:06:10 | ||
| 12 | Sven VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 34 | 1:06:28 | ||
| 13 | Quinten HERMANS | BEL | 20 | 1:06:39 | ||
| 14 | Michael BOROS | CZE | 23 | 1:06:47 | ||
| 15 | Nicolas CLEPPE | BEL | 20 | 1:06:53 | ||
| 16 | Kobe GOOSSENS | BEL | 19 | 1:07:13 | ||
| 17 | Dieter VANTHOURENHOUT | BEL | 30 | 1:07:16 | ||
| 18 | Thomas JOSEPH | BEL | 19 | 1:07:30 | ||
| 19 | Vinnie BRAET | BEL | 24 | 1:07:37 | ||
| 20 | Jens VANDEKINDEREN | BEL | 22 | 1:07:44 | ||
| 21 | Kenneth VAN COMPERNOLLE | BEL | 27 | 1:07:44 | ||
| 22 | Bart HOFMAN | BEL | 30 | 1:07:44 | ||
| 23 | Thijs AERTS | BEL | 19 | 1:07:55 | ||
| 24 | Tom VAN DEN BOSCH | BEL | 30 | 1:08:00 | ||
| 25 | David VAN DER POEL | NED | 23 | 1:08:09 | ||
| 26 | Quincy VENS | BEL | 29 | 1:08:29 | ||
| 27 | Ingmar UYTDEWILLIGEN | BEL | 24 | 1:08:46 | ||
| 28 | Angelo DE CLERCQ | BEL | 24 | 1:08:46 | ||
| 29 | Clément LHOTELLERIE | FRA | 29 | |||
| 30 | Kevin CANT | BEL | 27 | |||
| 31 | Niels KOYEN | BEL | 24 | |||
| 32 | Berne VANKEIRSBILCK | BEL | 21 | |||
| 33 | Yelle LEAERTS | BEL | 21 | |||
| 34 | Bruce DALTON | GBR | 23 | |||
| 35 | Klaas VANKERSSCHAEVER | BEL | 26 |
