Dutch Championships: Vos Steals Van Den Brand’s Stripes, Boom Caps Off His ’Cross Season – UPDATED: FULL REPORT, LOTS More Photos

Marianne Vos takes her first national cyclocross title ©Bart Hazen

Defending world champ Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) just edged out defending Dutch national champ Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) by the slimmest of margins, adding her first tricolor jersey to her palmares by a mere two seconds. Van den Brand sought out her 12th national title, but a clearly on-form Vos is tough to match. Sanne van Paassen (Brainwash) rounded out the podium and managed to keep the leaders close, crossing the line 23 seconds down, but the podium trio was head and shoulders above the rest of the field with Linda van Rijen, the next closest rider, another 1:40 back. Sophie de Boer rode a good race finishing in fifth after moving up from the back after a crash just off the start.

From the first lap, Vos, Van den Brand and Van Paassen broke clear from the field. On the fast course it was difficult to make a difference. Just over halfway through the race Van Paassen made a fault and dropped. In the final lap Van den Brand increased the pressure on Vos, but the World Champion didn’t falter. In the sprint it was a piece of cake for the captain of Nederland Bloeit.

“Finally the Dutch title,” said a delighted Vos after the race. “This is very beautiful. I already had European titles and World titles but this jersey was missing in my collection. The more I don’t succeed, the bigger my goal to win it. It was a fast race, so difficult to make the difference. I tried in the first and the third lap to get rid of my rivals but that didn’t work. Daphny tried to surprise me in the final lap but luckily I could finish it in the sprint. This gives me extra confidence for the remaining World Cups and my main goal the World Championships.”

Multiple National Champion Daphny van den Brand was a little disappointed with her second place. “After all the successful years it’s always possible to lose. But it’s a pity to finish in second. After my food poisoning I didn’t expect to be so good already. It went really well today, I even animated the race. This is  promising for the World Championships, hopefully I finally will be in shape again for this event. The remaining World Cups I will use to fine tune my form.”

Lars Boom takes fifth consecutive national title
In the men’s race, Lars Boom capped off his abridged cyclocross campaign with a repeat of last year’s National Championship win. Boom, a former world champ in the Elite, U23 and Juniors categories, has made the road season his priority and only competes in a limited cyclocross season these days. Boom also took home a win in the Zolder World Cup two weeks ago.

This victory makes 11 consecutive cyclocross championships for the phenom, dating back to his 2001 title in the Newcomers’ division.

Gerben de Knegt (Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team) finished 12 seconds down and was once again relegated to the second step of the Nationals podium, with Eddy van IJzendoorn (AA Drink Cycling Team) in third, Thijs van Amerongen (AA Drink Cycling Team) in fourth and Thijs Al (AA Drink Cycling Team) in fifth.

On the fast course it was Lars Boom who took the hole shot in Sint-Michielsgestel, followed by Gerben de Knegt, Mitchell Huenders, Thijs Al, Thijs van Amerongen and Patrick van Leeuwen. Eddy van IJzendoorn, one of the outsiders for the title, had a dramatic start. First he clipped out of his pedal followed by his chain falling off.

Boom continued his efforts and increased the pace in the second lap; only De Knegt was able to follow for half a lap. Boom rode a concentrated race, didn’t make any mistakes and increased his lead lap by lap. In an impressive way he soloed to his fifth consecutive national title. De Knegt finished once again as second. The battle for third was a real thriller. Until the penultimate lap it looked as if Thijs Al was going to take the bronze medal but turning into the final lap his teammates Thijs van Amerongen and the strong Eddy van IJzendoorn bridged up. In the sprint for the final podium step it was “Fast Eddy” van IJzendoorn who was the fastest.

Lars Boom on his way to his fifth national title ©Bart Hazen

“It wasn’t easy today, although it might have looked like it went easy. I constantly put the pressure on my rivals to create a gap. I accelerated after every corner, despite that it’s quite tough to do that all the time. Finally I succeeded in creating a gap,” said a satisfied Boom at the post-race press conference. “I was very fit and the feeling was good today. I wasn’t afraid of anyone. My back injury luckily wasn’t as bad as it looked like after my crash in Baal. I am very happy with my fifth consecutive title. It’s something special especially if you are the first who accomplished it. My ’cross season is over now. Next week I will go to Spain for training camp and will start my road season in the Tour of Qatar.”

The second, Gerben de Knegt, was satisfied with his result. “I did my best today. Lars was better. I had to let him gap me and couldn’t close it anymore. I didn’t give up as you will never know if Lars will start to make mistakes or will get bad luck. Lars is a good cyclist both in the ’cross and on the road. The second place would really hurt me if Lars was a middle class rider. But it’s a pity that the tricolere jersey won’t be seen in the races all year.”

Lars van der Haar outclasses competition in U23 race

European Champion Lars van der Haar outclassed his rivals to win the U23 National title. The Rabobank rider broke clear in the third lap to win with a 15 seconds lead over his teammates Mike Teunissen and Gert-Jan Bosman. Another Rabobank rider Michiel van der Heijden finished in fourth with Twan van den Brand rounding off the top five.

Van der Haar took the best start as he has done almost the whole season, followed by his teammate Mike Teunissen. The two broke clear from the first lap and it looked likely to become an exciting battle between them. Behind the two, a chasing group was formed with Gert-Jan Bosman, Tijmen Eising, Michiel van der Heijden, Corné van Kessel, Micki van Empel, Twan van den Brand, Kobus Herijgers and David van der Poel.

After a crash from Teunissen in the third lap Van der Haar pulled through. He increased his lead lap by lap and didn’t make any mistakes to take his first national U23 title. The battle for second and third was more exciting between Tijmen Eising, Gert-Jan Bosman and Mike Teunissen. The three turned into the final lap together. The battle finally got decided in a sprint with two in favor of Teunissen after a mechanical problem of Eising.

“Everything went perfect today,” smiled van der Haar. “I had a good start. When Mike attacked I bridged up to him. When he dropped our coach Richard Groenendaal said to me I had to wait for him, but when he crashed I decided to pull through. I accelerated after every corner as you can win a fast race like this here. It went very easy today. I had the best legs of the season. It’s very wonderful to have a complete Rabobank podium. Beforehand this was one of our main goals and if you succeed in it that’s just amazing.”

The national titles in the other categories went to Danny van Poppel (Juniors), Mathieu van der Poel (Youth Men), Sabrina Stultiens (Junior Women) and Lotte Eikelenboom (Youth Women)

Elite Men’s Photo Gallery:

Elite Women’s Photo Gallery:

U23 Gallery:

Junior Men’s Gallery:

Junior Women’s Gallery:

Beginner Men and Women Gallery:

Full Results:

Men

Women

U23

Juniors